I’ve always thought that there is a distinct line between social-only social media and “social” media that also serves networking/business contact purposes. For example, Facebook is really only for my friends. Occasionally, there’s an overlap—coworkers who become friends—but most of the time I try to keep my professional life out of Facebook (and my FB out of my professional life). This includes setting everything to private, putting certain people on lists that limit what they can see, and directing industry partners and colleagues to my LinkedIn profile.
Why?
Well, because at the end of the day I am still in my 20’s and still have a social life, despite the fancy title and the long hours, and I want to be able to document that social life. Because I am not a celebrity, the likelihood of someone being paid to expose my Facebook is slim to none, so I can safely keep the pictures that might not be work appropriate up for my friends to comment on (or laugh at, as the case usually may be). I can leave comments that might be off-color in a professional setting but perfectly appropriate in a friends-setting. Basically, I can retain my online social networking freedom with a few clicks of the mouse and a few notes saying “Oh, sorry, I don’t use Facebook for business—I’ll add you over at LinkedIn!”
Face it. We’ve all seen how “building a brand” can work for you or against you online, and we all know that every time we hire for a position, Google is our number one friend for really digging up the dirt on the candidate. In the online marketing world, one of the things I look for to determine how web-savvy an individual is is how well I can access stuff that I quite frankly shouldn’t be able to access. As a potential employer, I want to know that you know how to lock down that photo of you in the kegstand contest in Cancun. If you don’t, I assume that you haven’t spent as much time online as you claim…and that you’re an idiot for not taking it down if you can’t lock it down.
Tomorrow, we’ll talk about handles and other means of separating your personal from your professional life online, and what kind of stuff you should be doing in both areas to clean up and overspill between the two. Have a great night!
