Hollie-Anne Brooks writes about the importance of being social media savvy in a digital age and asks why it isn’t taught in schools:

At 23, my teens were a decade ago (scary stuff) and, as much as I like to reminisce about the good old days of SM:TV, The Spice Girls and Myspace, I’m much happier being a in the digital age as a twenty-something.

My generation, those geeky teen girls who caught on to Livejournal and other founding social media platforms, are the young men and women who will be pioneering digital media in years to come.

Despite being labelled as geeks and nerds 10 years ago, it’s safe to say the teens of the 00s were right and the internet really would rule all. So what does this mean for teens today? Coming from a big family and living hundreds of miles away from my aunts, uncles and cousins, Facebook is the main way we keep in contact. Through the use of Zuckerberg’s masterpiece, I’ve been able to watch as little cousins upload photos of sleepovers, switch from “in a relationship” to “single” every three minutes and tell the world that “OMG HARRY STYLES IS SOOOOO FIT #1D4EVA”.

What my cute little fourteen year old family members don’t think about is their digital footprint. But, then again, neither did I at their age. However, should we be teaching tweens and teens that value of a good digital footprint? Should schools be running social media etiquette classes alongside how to use Excel and Powerpoint?

Take out the equation of internet safety and what teens should and shouldn’t be using their BBM for but, rather, look at future career prospects.

In six years when the current teenage generation are looking for jobs as bankers, lawyers and even social media managers, how are they going to feel when the top search for their own name comes up as a Twitter account dedicated to One Direction, Miley Cyrus or Justin Beiber?

Whilst I think it’s terribly cute that Twitter allows fans to be closer to their idol (why do you think I follow Ashton Kutcher?!), I think an air of caution needs to be taken- whether that’s by the youths themselves or future employers.

These days, if you apply for a job and an embarrassing Westlife themed Myspace comes up for you, it won’t exactly hinder your chances but will probably cause you a bit of stick in the office. I just wonder whether the increase of the younger generation using Bebo, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest for about 20 hours on average per day means they’re damaging their future reputation.

It’s not a case of sucking the fun out of everything but I do think employers will have to wade through a whole host of Beiber Fever when selecting future candidates.

It amazes me that, despite smart phones being the new GirlTalks and Twitter being the new fan mail, children aren’t taught about how to use social media safely and effectively. In a time where we’re dealing with the likes of 17 year olds being arrested for trolling Olympic star Tom Daley and the girlfriends of boy band members having to leave Twitter and Facebook after being harassed so much, we do have to teach the young ones what is and what isn’t acceptable. What could be a simple “Zayn Malik’s new girlfriend is an ugly, smelly, horrible bitch”, could be imprinted forever.

Saying that, I think until the wave of applicants start landing on our desks with Twitter handles such as @thewanted_fan1 and @mrsharrysty1es, then we don’t need to worry. Until then, be thankful Twitter didn’t exist when you where a bored fourteen year old with nothing to do but Tweet the cast of TOWIE!

By Hollie-Anne Brooks

Hollie-Anne worked as an intern with Shake. You can follow Hollie-Anne on Twitter here or read her blog here.