Of 381 college admissions officers who answered a Kaplan telephone questionnaire this year, 31 percent said they had visited an applicant’s Facebook or other personal social media page to learn more about them — a five-percentage-point increase from last year. More crucially for those trying to get into college, 30 percent of the admissions officers said they had discovered information online that had negatively affected an applicant’s prospects. “Students’ social media and digital footprint can sometimes play a role in the admissions process,” says Christine Brown, the executive director of K-12 and college prep programs at Kaplan Test Prep. “It’s something that is becoming more ubiquitous and less looked down upon.” — <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/business/they-loved-your-gpa-then-they-saw-your-tweets.html?nl=todaysheadlines&amp;emc=edit_th_20131110" target="_blank">They Loved Your G.P.A. Then They Saw Your Tweets. - NYTimes.com</a> (via <a class="tumblr_blog" href="http://pulse.infoneer.net/" target="_blank">infoneer-pulse</a>)