It’s not news to you that colleges and potential scholarships might be searching for you online. Your name could be Googled right this moment, and it may make or break your college acceptance options.
While your parents and teachers have been warning you that your digital footprint can hurt you (get that red Solo cup outta the pictures!), it isn’t just something they are saying to scare you into being a perfect student.
Here are four apps that make it easier for you to have some fun with your pictures while also decreasing your digital footprint.
CallSnap: This Android app launched by TIP Solutions allows call recipients to instantly respond to an incoming call with a photo. The caller will receive a text message announcing ‘Busy right now…CallSnap photo on the way!’ It is fun for any situation where answering a phone may be difficult, but allows users to send a photo without posting it to social media.
Snapchat: Users can snap a photo or a video, add a caption to it and then send it to their friends. Snapchat photos and videos are deleted after 1-10 seconds of being sent to the recipient, which allows users to show off what they are doing, while the evidence is erased in seconds.
Instagram Direct: The most popular app for visual communication, Instagram has improved their app with the option to send private photos and videos to select friends. Users send the direct image or video to up to 15 friends at a time. This new feature helps users share those special or relevant moments with a smaller group of friends rather than all of their followers.
Wink!: Wink! allows users to photo chat with their friends on their phone by sending photos with captions to any of their contacts. Recipients can comment on the photos and each photo lasts as long as the user wants. It is private from everyone except friends.
Now that you know a little more about your options, take a moment to assess your social media and what it might look like to a scholarship provider or college. You can even un-tag some photos friends took liberties and tagged you in. An hour or two cleaning up your social profile could save you thousands of dollars or even help get you into that school you’ve been dreaming about.
> For more information, read this article: Do Colleges Look at Facebook?
