The Fine Line Between Private and Personable
How do you decide what information to post online?
A big concern with using social media sites is who sees what is posted. Some experts suggest having a public professional account, as well as a private personal one, and keeping all information separate. Others say that this discredits you as an online persona, and creates a distance with the reader. There is a delicate balance that can be achieved, and with minimal effort.
My guideline in life has always been “don’t do anything you’d be ashamed to tell someone about later”, and this also applies online. Are you excited to show your boss those drunken party pictures from last weekend? If yes, then, by all means, post them on your Facebook profile. If you answered no, like the rest of us, either refrain from posting, or edit your privacy settings to limit who views your wild night out.
It really is quite easy, just go up to the top right of your Facebook page, where you will see the Account drop-down menu. Select ‘Privacy Settings’. Once in that screen, you can adjust all aspects of who can see what on your profile.
Facebook Privacy Settings menu
By adjusting your privacy settings, you don’t have to monitor every picture posted of you on Facebook.
As for Twitter, I really don’t find it that difficult to self-edit what I tweet, but if you find it hard to not complain about your jerk boss or awful coworker, maybe you shouldn’t have a Twitter account in the first place. As far as I can tell, and I may be wrong, there isn’t any way to edit your settings so that certain individuals cannot see certain tweets. Try and keep the inappropriateness to a minimum, and I’m sure you’ll be fine.
Another good rule to follow is to not say or post anything that you aren’t comfortable owning. This means that you can say whatever you feel like to whoever you feel like, so long as you are taking responsibility for saying it.
By completely editing your web presence, you remove the individuality that makes your audience want to follow you. Without the authentic personality shining through, you are just another generic web user doing nothing spectacular.
3 Steps to Posting a Proper Profile Picture
*person may not be exactly as shown*
I love my father, I really do. But when I saw his recent Facebook profile picture (see right), I had to laugh. This is not what my dad looks like, and, if you look closely enough, you can
see that the angle of his face is not matching the angle of the head he transplanted it on to. Although he is not using this photo to deceive those who view it, many of his friends assumed it was a real picture- perhaps taken a few years ago. He admitted it wasn’t a real by saying “Does anyone really think I would wear a Queen t-shirt?”
While I find this picture amusing, it also reminded me about the importance of being truthful in your online representation. Everyone wants to put their best “face” forward, but gross exaggeration is not promoting who you actually are, and isn’t really doing you any favours.
Here are 3 steps to ensure you are presenting yourself honestly, but in the best possible light.
- Make sure you use a recent picture for your profiles
Maybe 10 years ago you were thinner or better looking. Maybe you had the best haircut of your life, and you want to hold onto that memory. Maybe you paid a lot of money for that 80s-style glamour shot. You don’t look like that anymore. Get over it. Embrace who you are today, and find the most flattering picture you have of yourself. I suggest that the picture be updated every six months or so. Keep those pictures of the younger, hotter you for your desktop. - Use tasteful photos
Most people know this, but using a picture that shows a lot of skin or excessive drinking does not capture you in your best light. You might *think* it does, especially while under the influence, but, and trust me on this one, it doesn’t. Anyone who is impressed by these pictures are not going to help your online reputation. Use a headshot that captures who you are when you’re at your best- sober and smiling. - Match the tone of the picture to the purpose
When making a Twitter account for your business, use a professional-looking picture. When making a profile for Plentyoffish.com, use a picture to attract dates. When setting your Facebook profile picture to share with friends, use a casual, relaxed picture. Know your audience, and accommodate them. Your audience will know who you are and the purpose of your messages based on your visual representation, and will respond appropriately.
In my father’s case, it was a silly tongue-in-cheek post, but people are misrepresenting themselves in profile pictures across the internet, and it needs to stop. Be who you are, whoever you are.
Grammar etiquette on the web and beyond…
Like most past journalism students, I am a bit of a stickler for proper grammar. This isn’t to say that I don’t make a spelling error or misuse a phrase now and then – no one’s perfect – but I find it more than irritating to read a message or story with blatant errors or sheer laziness in writing. Even when I text, I attempt to spell out words in their entirety, and use correct punctuation. Only when I’m low on space and I need to squish a message into 140 characters will I sacrifice grammar; it breaks my heart every time. I can’t stand to receive texts or emails asking, “When R U comin 2 da partay?”. If you are shortening ‘are’, ‘you’, and ‘to’, why lengthen ‘party’? Did you get to the end and realize that you saved ample space, and you may as well use it up? This baffles me.
And while I’m on the subject, ‘4get’, ‘gr8’, and ‘2gether’ are not words. They are random mash-ups of letters and numbers. Spell it out.
Proper grammar clears up any confusion jargon creates. Missing commas in contracts have cost companies millions. If you want to send a clear, compelling message spell words right, punctuate where needed, and, please, do not use number-word concoctions to spice up a boring message.
L8r all!
Tweeting it like it is
New to Twitter, I am learning the ropes to tweeting.
Goal: Get as many people to follow me as possible
Step 1: Follow as many people as possible. This includes people who have nothing to do with my cause, who I will eventual stop following
Step 2: Follow everyone that follow someone who follows me in order to have them reciprocate the follow
Have I lost you yet?
Step 3: Retweet random information I find in order to entice new followers
Step 4: I’m not really sure. Take over the communications world? When I find out, I’ll let you know
Welcome!
The purpose of this blog is to endorse authenticity within communication. As a professional communicator, I find that communication, especially online, has become forced and insincere. My goal is to help others to get back to who they are, and make communication that much clearer. In the coming weeks, I will post links to other sites I find helpful, as well as write about issues in the communications world.
CG
Get Real Communications 