Have you ever woken up after a night out in Hollywood with your phone abuzz, only to find out there is an embarrassing picture of you falling off the bull at Saddleranch on Instagram? In the digital age, these goofs are inevitable, but you don’t have to be partying like Courtney Love to self-sabotage. There are many ways to fall prey to a social media faux pas. Read more about “How to Avoid a Social Media Faux Pas”

Personal vs Professional

Hopefully most of us know by now the proper precautions to take in order to keep our personal web profiles separate from our professional profiles. This can be tricky because your profession isn’t selling bibles; for actors and other members of the creative industry you are the brand. If you are a model, your face is your product and likewise if you are an actor your well-rehearsed monologue is your product. Make sure that everything you post is something you are comfortable representing you and your brand. Imagine a casting director looking over your Instagram and seeing that picture of you pretending to make out with a hamburger. Take this into consideration when you are hash-tagging.

Selfies

Even though I just told you your face is your product, don’t make people think you are self-obsessed. We get it, you’re super good looking. Valencia was definitely the right filter to show off your new tan. Nobody likes looking at your face that much. Keep the selfies in moderation.

Shaping Your Brand

Social media is an opportunity for people to learn more about who you are and your talents, 24/7. If you are trying to market yourself as a comedian, use social media as a tool for comedic captions or one-liners (in 140 characters or less). Singers like Justin Bieber got their start posting cover songs to YouTube and sharing the videos. Who knows, maybe Usher will see the video of you singing “Adia” by Sarah McLachlan and sign you to his label and before you know it you could be the next star having a meltdown on the cover of US Weekly.

Be prepared for anything you post online to go viral at any moment. Now of course I don’t mean you have to sweat the small stuff and spend hours poring over editing every last detail of your video. But, you should take a look at it and make sure that it fits in with your “brand” and you are comfortable with it representing yourself. Think about the girl who was posting a hair tutorial and accidentally burnt her hair off. Her hopes of ever being taken seriously as a hairdresser were quickly diminished when clips of her shocked face were suddenly all over the internet and Jimmy Kimmel.

Confidentiality

Be very cautious about what you “leak” online. You may only have two hundred Twitter followers but if you tweet any juicy details or behind the scenes gossip about your first day on set, it might also be your last day on set. Never underestimate who might be reading what you post online. Posts can go viral and thanks to time-stamping your boss will know exactly when you posted the information. As a general rule of thumb, less is more. Anything you say or post about your workplace must be something you would be comfortable saying directly in front of your coworkers. Your friends and followers will see the finished product when it is ready for the rest of the world to see.