Online personas and authenticity

At #tweetwyo last night, we got into a pretty vibrant discussion about whether filtering web content was somehow masking who you really are. The consensus was that there’s a place for professional decorum, even on the internet and a place for personal information.

I think it’s an even bigger issue than just a matter of personal v. private decorum. It’s about nuance and information sharing. It really depends on what purpose the social web serves for you. For many of us who have connections to higher ed, we’re often attached to more than one profile and it’s another reason to be conscientious of our audiences. Even if you’re speaking for “yourself” there are people who will quote you on the name of your institution or job. “Bob of New York Widgets says that he hates New York.” Injuring the corporate brand is an inherent risk.

“Should personal content on a personal profile really be used in a punitative way in a professional setting?” If your boss reads your Facebook profile, should it be able to get you fired? If you tweet a message about something, should it result in a public flogging all over the web?

Most agree that it probably shouldn’t. But it doesn’t matter. People still take things out of context personally. If a blog post can even be construed as being negative or directed at someone, the mea culpas will have to be distributed, sometimes “just in case.”

So what do you about? Is separating your professional and personal life inauthentic?

No. It’s a survival tactic in a world where not everyone knows you. While it can be empowering to blog all of your feelings in the off chance that someone, somewhere will read about it and care, it’s a risky move.

For me, Twitter is about networking. LinkedIn has a networking component, though the bar is set a bit higher and Facebook is for people I have existing relationships with and even that’s on a case-by-case basis. The lines are far too blurred and all you need is something to happen.

The key to social networking is realizing that 1) you’re not alone and 2) nothing is private.

Don’t be Foolish, use Twitter

As promised in my post about why Twitter isn’t any better than high school, here’s a gushing post about the sheer brilliance of Twitter.

To the person on the outside looking in, Twitter is akin to passing notes to your friends about the most inane matters possible. To the more cynical among us, it’s a reflection of the general “me first, me second” tendencies of millennials and Generation Y. When you tell them the majority of the users are over the age of 30, that it’s largely a tool for business and that Dell made a $1 million bucks last year in revenue JUST USING TWITTER they sit upright in their chairs and have more to tell you.

Look, social media is really about being social. You have to see it, hear it and engage it. And my friends, Twitter is all about engagement.

Here’s what’s great about Twitter:

1. Customers front and center People might not a Twitter from a Twiddler. In a world where sound bites can kill political campaigns and folks have seemingly infinite content possibilities, Twitter is network of audiences ready and engaged to hear what you have to say.

Tell them you’ll save them money or share some interesting news and they’ll keep following you. Unlike a blog, a newspaper or even a radio station, Twitter can pretty much go ANYWHERE I go. Through text updates, I can get notice of a major event almost instantly. So whether it’s a sale or something worse, Twitter usually breaks the story.

2. Let’s build our relationship… In the old days, how did mom and pop stores thrive? They build relationships with their customers. In the era of the big box retailer, shopping mall and Walmart behemoth, some might think that relationships have gone by the wayside. But it’s just not true. In the past, if you made a customer upset due to poor service or something else, they might tell a friend or a family member via the phone. The likelihood that you’d see a shift in business as a result of one angry customer was relatively small. Today? A customer who is upset with your brand could Twitter about it and word spreads instantly to legions of others who can air their similar grievances, causing harm to your brand that you knew nothing about. That is, unless you’re proactive.

3. Meet ‘n Greet 2.0: Those conversations with colleagues from around the globe have never been more dynamic. The water cooler now takes place across time zones and it’s happening in real time, without leaving your desk. It used to be, that after you met someone at a conference you had to fumble through cards to remember who they were. Or more recently, you’d add them on something like Facebook or LinkedIn, which was either too close or too distant for them to be useful. Now? Twitter is the new business card.

What do you think is great about Twitter?