Being Professional Online
Upon reading articles online and a book called What Happens on Campus Stays on YouTube for a new media class I wanted to share some main points from one of those articles and this book.
While reading this book I loved some advice that Qualman gives to his readers; "Live as though your family is watching". This is a very effective way to remember to be professional in any situation as many people respect family members and their opinions (In-laws may be the exception đ). There are 36 rules that are stated in this book to improve your online reputation. I'll write about one or two of my favorites. The first one I like is rule #3 "KISS: Keep It Super Simple". How many times have we stopped ourselves from writing a novel on social media? especially when that post is emotionally driven for whatever reason, or, how many times have we shared and posted everything interesting for the sake of attention? Qualman's bullet point on this rule sums it up well, "Many of us complicate our lives by trying to be everything to everyone. This makes our reputation difficult to manage...those who simplify win". By keeping our posts within our professional ring and by posting things that we are passionate about we maintain a very clean cut online personality that people can come back to with the expectation of relevant posts and content.
The second rule I'd like to write about is rule # 24 "The power of a letter". I am a very die-hard romantic who would write a love letter in a heartbeat, and in the professional world things that are rare and intrinsic like a letter can send a very powerful message. In Qualman's words, "Next time you make a mistake, [or want to make solid connections] take the time to send a letter. It is significantly more personal than email and shows that you truly care". I can definitely agree that a well-written letter will get you places that an email can't. Show you care and write a letter.
The article I found online is called Managing your online professional identity by Teresa Jones and Deborah Swain. It is very thorough and explains why it is important to have a very clean, professional image online. "Since 2005, when 75% of search firms regularly used Google to investigate job candidates, that habit by potential employers has increased now to 90%". That is a very scary statistic as many of us who are younger probably have a lot of angsty posts from our high school days or even some recent college photos we need to clear from our social media. One tip this article gives to readers is that they should search themselves online and look at it from a potential employers perspective. This way we can make any changes needed to make sure it is a positive experience when employers look us up online. This article also advises readers to make an online resume and add the link to all your social media accounts. This can streamline the employment process as well as show your employer that you mean business.
All in all these resources have changed the way I think about my image on social media and inspire me to be more wary of what I post and who I am online.
The second rule I'd like to write about is rule # 24 "The power of a letter". I am a very die-hard romantic who would write a love letter in a heartbeat, and in the professional world things that are rare and intrinsic like a letter can send a very powerful message. In Qualman's words, "Next time you make a mistake, [or want to make solid connections] take the time to send a letter. It is significantly more personal than email and shows that you truly care". I can definitely agree that a well-written letter will get you places that an email can't. Show you care and write a letter.
The article I found online is called Managing your online professional identity by Teresa Jones and Deborah Swain. It is very thorough and explains why it is important to have a very clean, professional image online. "Since 2005, when 75% of search firms regularly used Google to investigate job candidates, that habit by potential employers has increased now to 90%". That is a very scary statistic as many of us who are younger probably have a lot of angsty posts from our high school days or even some recent college photos we need to clear from our social media. One tip this article gives to readers is that they should search themselves online and look at it from a potential employers perspective. This way we can make any changes needed to make sure it is a positive experience when employers look us up online. This article also advises readers to make an online resume and add the link to all your social media accounts. This can streamline the employment process as well as show your employer that you mean business.
All in all these resources have changed the way I think about my image on social media and inspire me to be more wary of what I post and who I am online.
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