Living in a digital era where most information is readily available to anyone at any given time, one must be very cautious of the trails they leave behind in order to keep one's professional and personal reputation intact. I want to talk about a few things that one can do to ensure that the information they are allowing the world to see will not eventually come back one day in the future and bite them in the butts as well as steps we can do to sculpt our digital reputation.
Firstly, when creating your image, be it with Facebook,Twitter, etc. , one must present themselves to their audience in a way that befits the position they have. What I mean by that is if you are a teacher or director of a company, you would want your tool of choice to reflect the professionalism you bring to your job. With that, the individual should make that their personal site does not contain any images that might damage their reputation. Pictures of you drinking from a beer bong ,that can be viewed by perspective employers, may not be in your best interest .On the same note, your site should not contain opinions that might easily offend others. Topics like religion and politics for example should be avoided at all cost unless you want to create another separate account using a pseudonym.Sometimes the most harmless thing can snowball into something beyond your control.
Prior to this lesson I never gave my digital footprint any thought. My Facebook account until yesterday was the only way that people had access to my information online. Ive now registered to Twitter as well. We were asked what steps we would do to sculpt our own personal footprint. Honestly, I had no clue. But after perusing the following site http://www.speakers.ca/2010/08/how-to-build-your-digital-footprint-in-8-easy-steps/, I've come to discover that creating your digital footprint is not something that you should rush into.According to this author, there are 8 steps one should consider before starting up. For example, choosing the right content channel and/or social network that's most suitable for what you plan on accomplishing.
Hope the above link helps you better understand the concept of your digital footprint. Enjoy!
This blog will follow my journey through my Masters course at Framingham University
Great post, especially the last paragraph. I love the article you recommend. You should tweet it, and share it with the rest of the class too.
ReplyDeleteI shall! Still trying to get a grip on all this new technology :)
DeleteThanks for the link Michel ^^ I have a very similar opinion to yours regarding keeping yourself "safe" from possible posts that can deter you from future prospects. A also had many thoughts of erasing everything I have online and just starting over with a pseudonym, but I'm sure that won't erase everything about me that I have already posted in the past. Someone will be able to find it in cyberspace. LOL!
ReplyDeleteMichel you made some great points.
ReplyDeleteYour comment about not rushing into things really struck a chord with me. I think a lot about how I can use my blog as a tool to reach out to a target audience through an accurate representation of my personal/ professional identity, and I notice that any good ideas I may have generally come sporadically, in small bits, as if my blog were a construction project built on several 'idea bricks'
Your comments on professionalism also hit home with me. I am very passionate about maintaining professional behavior in all contexts where it is required. I like to refer to professionalism as professional common sense. But you know what they say- common sense in not very common. lol
Cheers bud nice read, I think you hit it on the button with not wanting to rush into building your digital reputation. Put yourself in the chair of a perspective employer. If you were searching your potential employees and came across a photo of them playing beer pong during their University days an age ago. Would you really consider that bad? Personally I think if someones digital footprint showed up only professional environments, It would mean they either have children, they needed to relax and chill out, or they were hiding something. I agree with you when you say we need to be careful and somewhat monitor what is out there, but to what end? I feel like playtime is important to keep the work time in balance, but I guess i am just immature. Good read though I enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I post something on Facebook I'm definitely guilty of not thinking about how that comment or content would be viewed from an employer's point of by someone who is particularly sensitive. I sometimes think after the fact that maybe it might be taken in the wrong light. But, at the end of the day I'm never too worried about it and I would welcome any kind of dialog where I could explain myself if need be. This has never really happen.
ReplyDeleteThis can mean only one of two things, either the posts are not as controversial as i think they might be or maybe other people just think i'm crazy.