I'm on twitter. I tweet about tons of things - job searching, relocation, social media, networking, Apple, traveling, Asia, South Korea, Syracuse University, College Basketball, my new start up company Eat Your Serial, and current events. That's a lot of subjects, right? Right.
I'm on facebook. You won't receive a blue hyperlink here, sorry. I have that locked up as tight as I can get it because I joined at that perfect age of 21 and have 1800+ idiotic photos tagged of me doing what 20 somethings do. Not to mention 50+ videos where I'm making a large fool of myself. It's a place of inside jokes, funny conversations, poking fun with my closest friends about every topic and mundane detail of our lives. Even if we are friends on there not everything is going to make sense.
I'm on Linked In. I use the wisdom I've accrued in my 27 years to discuss professional topics with other professionals in professional networking groups. I learn more about my crafts through discussions with other people. I'm on Brazen Careerist for the same thing.
I'm on You Tube. It's a mix mash of my videos of concerts, funny nights out, being out in Korea, and most recently a few video web logs.
What am I getting at?
Well, it's simple. Each place is a place to exist for different reasons. They have different purposes, different networks, & different results. To only exist on one network would be like reading one chapter of a book and knowing how it ends. There's no way to get a good sense of someone on one network alone.
Anyone who is job searching, or using social media to get ahead, has to have multiple profiles to increase exposure. Find the specific niche sites that your industry may use as well to get noticed.
Should You Put it all Out There?
No.
Why?
There's a few common sentiments/sayings out there that work well:
1) Don't reveal too much, there's fun in the mysterious
2) If I can get the milk for free, why should I buy the cow?
And there's a lot to be said for both. If you give out 15 bullet points on one job, or if you have gigantic long paragraphs detailing your experiences on LinkedIn you'll hold the attention of no one. Or if you offer your services to everyone for free, you'll never get paid for your work.
There are perfect balances. Be short and succinct where you need to be... offer tips and suggestions, but don't outline an entire project for someone without being a consultant. Obviously this differs from case to case, but overall you don't ever want to come on too strong or with too much because it will never end well for you.
Does Being on Every Platform = The Real You?
No. You should have some consistency across all of your platforms, especially if you're job searching. Make sure that you're looking for the same things on each site, your keywords all match up, and that your resumes are perfectly related to the description.
For everything else, your online profiles may help you keep your different networks up to date and provide ways for you to showcase your work. But never mistake an online persona for a real life persona. What I mean by that - is just because you write well, and post pictures, and discuss a few topics does not mean that is who you are. You exist in the real world and you should keep some things to yourself. Anything that could get you fired, or anything you have to think twice about updating is probably a good thing to just leave off of any profile at any time.
Also don't entirely take everything you read seriously from a twitter friend or a new on line acquaintance. You need to develop relationships the old fashioned way too, with plenty of face to face time. Non-verbal communication is very important to any relationship on any level.
Every hobby, sporting event, and minute of our lives can be tweeted about, posted around, and shared in some digital space. However none of that replaces good regular communication. The age old phrase behind assume goes well here too - "Never Assume anything... it makes an Ass out of U and ME." So don't always go by what you read - engage in conversations.
I'm on facebook. You won't receive a blue hyperlink here, sorry. I have that locked up as tight as I can get it because I joined at that perfect age of 21 and have 1800+ idiotic photos tagged of me doing what 20 somethings do. Not to mention 50+ videos where I'm making a large fool of myself. It's a place of inside jokes, funny conversations, poking fun with my closest friends about every topic and mundane detail of our lives. Even if we are friends on there not everything is going to make sense.
I'm on Linked In. I use the wisdom I've accrued in my 27 years to discuss professional topics with other professionals in professional networking groups. I learn more about my crafts through discussions with other people. I'm on Brazen Careerist for the same thing.
I'm on You Tube. It's a mix mash of my videos of concerts, funny nights out, being out in Korea, and most recently a few video web logs.
What am I getting at?
Well, it's simple. Each place is a place to exist for different reasons. They have different purposes, different networks, & different results. To only exist on one network would be like reading one chapter of a book and knowing how it ends. There's no way to get a good sense of someone on one network alone.
Anyone who is job searching, or using social media to get ahead, has to have multiple profiles to increase exposure. Find the specific niche sites that your industry may use as well to get noticed.
Should You Put it all Out There?
No.
Why?
There's a few common sentiments/sayings out there that work well:
1) Don't reveal too much, there's fun in the mysterious
2) If I can get the milk for free, why should I buy the cow?
And there's a lot to be said for both. If you give out 15 bullet points on one job, or if you have gigantic long paragraphs detailing your experiences on LinkedIn you'll hold the attention of no one. Or if you offer your services to everyone for free, you'll never get paid for your work.
There are perfect balances. Be short and succinct where you need to be... offer tips and suggestions, but don't outline an entire project for someone without being a consultant. Obviously this differs from case to case, but overall you don't ever want to come on too strong or with too much because it will never end well for you.
Does Being on Every Platform = The Real You?
No. You should have some consistency across all of your platforms, especially if you're job searching. Make sure that you're looking for the same things on each site, your keywords all match up, and that your resumes are perfectly related to the description.
For everything else, your online profiles may help you keep your different networks up to date and provide ways for you to showcase your work. But never mistake an online persona for a real life persona. What I mean by that - is just because you write well, and post pictures, and discuss a few topics does not mean that is who you are. You exist in the real world and you should keep some things to yourself. Anything that could get you fired, or anything you have to think twice about updating is probably a good thing to just leave off of any profile at any time.
Also don't entirely take everything you read seriously from a twitter friend or a new on line acquaintance. You need to develop relationships the old fashioned way too, with plenty of face to face time. Non-verbal communication is very important to any relationship on any level.
Every hobby, sporting event, and minute of our lives can be tweeted about, posted around, and shared in some digital space. However none of that replaces good regular communication. The age old phrase behind assume goes well here too - "Never Assume anything... it makes an Ass out of U and ME." So don't always go by what you read - engage in conversations.