How to clean up social media before an interview
By Loomis · Updated
Cleaning up your social media before an interview means reviewing your privacy settings, fixing or removing posts that no longer reflect you, and leaving your genuinely professional content alone. Working from a list of your own accounts first makes the difference between a focused clean-up and hours of guessing.
Where should you start cleaning up your social media?
Start with privacy settings on the accounts you still use: who can see your posts, your friends list and any photos you're tagged in. Then search your own name and scroll back a few years through your timeline. That's the range an interviewer's quick search tends to surface.
Should you delete old accounts you don't use anymore?
An old account you no longer use is worth deleting or locking down to private, whichever the platform allows. Deleting it tidies your own footprint. It won't undo a repost or screenshot someone already made.
What should you leave alone?
Leave your genuinely professional presence alone. A complete LinkedIn profile, published writing, talks or project work all count in your favour. Deleting years of activity right before applying can look stranger than the posts you were worried about. Keep it current.
How can a Footprint check make clean-up faster?
A free Loomis Footprint check finds the public accounts likely to be yours first, so you're working through a real, specific list from the start.
See what's public about you today with a free Loomis Footprint check.
Check your own footprint