Be careful of your Facebook

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BibleThump

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Just wanted to share some information that I recently received. Found out that my friend who was accepted last cycle is now currently taking a gap year due to some Facebook messages that he sent to other people. Apparently he said some racist/sexist things in those private Facebook conversations, and the recipients of those messages sent screenshots to the MD medical school that he was accepted at. Acceptance rescinded.

Just letting you know.
 
As a rule of thumb its always good to be careful about your online presence, where everything is documented, and not be a jerk.

Its one thing for someone to link a publicly available social media page to a school... but a little worrisome that someone could, presumably, doctor a screenshot and get an acceptance rescinded. How would schools verify if any of this actually occurred?
 
I have heard and seen tons of things like this. I got rid of every social media account except doximity and linked in. Screen shooting a private message may seem private but no such thing as privacy other than what stays in your head. I remember where I went to med school I heard stories of the interesting ways in which the the med school was able to keep track on peoples social media and real social life (what they were doing at bars etc). There is very little privacy. I agree, If you don't want it used against you then don't say it at all.
 
Yes, the strange thing about his situation is that it was a private facebook conversation (not public info). Guess they're really getting strict about this stuff.
 
Fwiw I got friended by 2 adcoms during the cycle last year.

You shouldn’t have anything that reflects poorly on you online anyway - isn’t that the first rule of the internet?
 
I have first hand seen many, many people lose their jobs over social media activity...
Always be careful
Honestly, I don't even post about current events anymore. Like the whole NFL thing?
No comment..
I don't have an opinion, nope, none.
 
BibleThump said:
Apparently he said some racist/sexist things in those private Facebook conversations, and the recipients of those messages sent screenshots to the MD medical school that he was accepted at.
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Jokes on the schools man! They assume that I have friends/acquaintances to chat with on FB. #sob #loner #needfriends
 
Just as Facebook can be used against you if you post hateful things on it, it can help you if you post things that show your positive qualities. I would use it as an opportunity.
 
bananafish94 said:
Just as Facebook can be used against you if you post hateful things on it, it can help you if you post things that show your positive qualities. I would use it as an opportunity.
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My Facebook is pro-vaccine memes and pictures of my kids lol.
 
Facebook is still used a lot, and for some reason people still do not know how to control what they say/do when looking for a new job/med school.
 
I think it goes without saying that you should be careful about everything you put in writing, regardless of whether you think you are anonymous, you think your friend will not share, you mean it as a joke, etc. Everything I say and do is an extension of who I am and indicative of my character. Everything I say online (and all that people see of me online) represents what I believe and I try to be careful that it represents who I *want* to be as well (as I am certainly not perfect). I don't necessarily care about the adcoms watching me - I care about the other people who look up to me as a role model or who may be watching how I react to something to determine how they should react. I often think of what my nieces may think if they saw what I write - would they think that's the person they know and have looked up to over the years? Or would they think I've been phony all this time? I hope they always think the former.
 
bananafish94 said:
My mom is, shall we say, "skeptical" of vaccines. So every couple of months or so she'll post some crazy anti-vaccine/pro-homeopathy thing on my Facebook that I have to debunk. It's fairly entertaining.
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I have a cousin who constantly posts memes about big pharma and vaccines. I have thoroughly debunked her conspiracies multiple times. I don't get political or anything anymore on Facebook since I made my account, but that is one thing I won't let go.
 
I won't post anything that I wouldn't want my mom to see. My dad trolls my Facebook from my sister's account, and complains about things I post. I rarely get political, and try to tread carefully. It's hard when you're a Jewish redneck living in the South, while all of your friends in Chicago are on the opposite end of the political spectrum. Every now and then I post some pro-gun posts, but haven't taken any selfies of that in a while.
 
ReapPremed said:
As a rule of thumb its always good to be careful about your online presence, where everything is documented, and not be a jerk.

Its one thing for someone to link a publicly available social media page to a school... but a little worrisome that someone could, presumably, doctor a screenshot and get an acceptance rescinded. How would schools verify if any of this actually occurred?
Click to expand...
Gunner level: infinite
 
I actually had an interview ask me how I felt about posting debatable topics on social media.
 
Also be careful when you check-in at or write about your ECs. Don't write something like: "Another boring day volunteering at the hospital. This sucks." That can probably sink you as well.
 
Planes2Doc said:
Also be careful when you check-in at or write about your ECs. Don't write something like: "Another boring day volunteering at the hospital. This sucks." That can probably sink you as well.
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Has anybody been stupid enough to do that?
 
Dr.Sticks said:
Has anybody been stupid enough to do that?
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During our pre-clinical orientation at the end of 2nd year, they showed us screen shots of medical students that openly posted how much they thought a rotation sucked. It's more reasonable to assume that people would do this with volunteering.
 
Planes2Doc said:
During our pre-clinical orientation at the end of 2nd year, they showed us screen shots of medical students that openly posted how much they thought a rotation sucked. It's more reasonable to assume that people would do this with volunteering.
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0_0
Wow

It is mind numbing how obviously intelligent people can sometimes be so stupid.
Lack of street smarts I guess..
 
um how did they prove it was him though? you can create a facebook with any name and photo
 
BibleThump said:
Just wanted to share some information that I recently received. Found out that my friend who was accepted last cycle is now currently taking a gap year due to some Facebook messages that he sent to other people. Apparently he said some racist/sexist things in those private Facebook conversations, and the recipients of those messages sent screenshots to the MD medical school that he was accepted at. Acceptance rescinded.

Just letting you know.
Click to expand...
such people don't deserve to be in health care anyways let alone med school
 
Unless you have something glaringly bad on your profile like blatant drug use or pictures of you with Nazi paraphernalia, it seems kind of inappropriate for a school to do something like this because anything online could easily be faked or taken out of context... But still, these days it's always a good idea to thoroughly delete everything several years back on your accounts, set them to maximum privacy, or deactivate them altogether.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Guys, the difference here is that these WERE NOT PUBLIC POSTS. They were private messages. I think we've all known for a long time that public posts can come back to haunt you, but this is the first time that I've heard of private Facebook conversations being used against the applicant.
 
BibleThump said:
Guys, the difference here is that these WERE NOT PUBLIC POSTS. They were private messages. I think we've all known for a long time that public posts can come back to haunt you, but this is the first time that I've heard of private Facebook conversations being used against the applicant.
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Harvard Rescinds Acceptances for At Least Ten Students for Obscene Memes | News | The Harvard Crimson

In general, I'd say it's best to avoid sending racist or sexist messages, lest you possibly be construed as a racist or sexist person!
 
Some stuff may also be taken out of context if it is in a screenshot. Public posts are fair game for adcom because anybody can see it. But I feel like its an invasion of privacy if they would go seeking private communication (not saying that they do). Just try to make sure that the stuff that you say isnt going to come back to bite ya. I have my IG public because I dont think I have posted anything bad on there but even then, some people may not have the humor that I do so even memes can be touchy sometimes.
 
rdyotz said:
Facebook is still used a lot, and for some reason people still do not know how to control what they say/do when looking for a new job/med school.
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It always blows my mind when people post long rants about their jobs on Facebook. It's like people don't actually realize that the things they say online can have real-life consequences.
 
CloverBale said:
I promise you, you're not missing out on anything important.
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I'm on Facebook mostly so that I can keep in touch with family during deployments/underways and with friends and family I've had to move away from. There is a lot of useless stuff on there lol.
 
Lannister said:
It always blows my mind when people post long rants about their jobs on Facebook. It's like people don't actually realize that the things they say online can have real-life consequences.
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This
Or even worse when people post all this drama in a PUBLIC group with all of their info available to see on their profile...
 
There is definitely more to the story, no school would rescind an acceptance because some rando emailed in "screen shots" of things an acceptee had supposedly said.
 
DNA Polymerase said:
Just don't say hateful or racist things. Is that so hard to do?
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Yes it is. Especially when the line for what constitutes hateful or racist things keeps moving further and further to the left. Is expressing support for ending the DACA program or building the wall hateful? What about expressing a desire that affirmative action be ended? Saying "all lives matter?" In a world where medical schools are giving applicants the option of identifying as a gender other than male or female, and allowing them to make up their own pronouns that they will then be addressed by, there is no limit to what can be considered hateful or offensive.
 
You know I was gonna make my name BibleThump when I created this account
 
BibleThump said:
Guys, the difference here is that these WERE NOT PUBLIC POSTS. They were private messages. I think we've all known for a long time that public posts can come back to haunt you, but this is the first time that I've heard of private Facebook conversations being used against the applicant.
Click to expand...

Don't feel sorry for the kid. Shouldn't have said those racist comments to anyone. Oh well, good for him.
 
KnuxNole said:
Don't feel sorry for the kid. Shouldn't have said those racist comments to anyone. Oh well, good for him.
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How do you know it was racist or sexist? Can't those terms be subjectively evaluated/interpreted? Also, I have much more respect for someone that is openly sexist/racist rather than a closet racist/sexist or someone so out of touch with themselves and how they feel/think that they simply follow what others believe. I think acting on racist/sexism is a completely different thing, by the way.

Plus, I'm betting it was someone making a sexist joke and a stuck up, butthurt pre-med thought he'd be the next social justice champ and report it.
 
Very strange case indeed. I could literally take someone's profile pic, create a fake profile, friend myself, and create a bogus message thread - all in under 5 minutes. Any med school committee who would make the decision to rescind an acceptance based only on that sort of evidence is, quite frankly, idiotic.
 
Most kids are influenced by early contacts with other kids who are different than they. If kids build relationships with others who are of other races, that's probably not going to change much as they get older, they will see people of other races as just people--different culturally---but potentially as friends. The other truth is that EVERYONE thinks of themselves as better than someone else---but that doesn't HAVE to be racially motivated. Most people don't hate others who don't threaten them--but fear is often racially inspired. The KKK, white nationalists and nazis can usually trace their extreme biases and hatreds to fear and threats---not because Pappy or Uncle Jim Bob told them to hate people of color. Sure---for some that's enough---no doubt. But for most of us?
Racism is all about 2+2=9....
 
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