How To Cultivate a Courteous and Professional Online Identity

There are many forums online in which one may participate while in the huge ocean of the internet. There are social networking sites all over – in fact, there are new sites opening every day. We as individuals have the ability to express ourselves digitally as we never have before. However, these new galleries we have made for ourselves show a lot more about ourselves than we think. Therefore, we need to be careful about how we go about revealing ourselves to the public, and how much we reveal.

For this reason, it is good to assess what the strengths are of social networking. Social networking allows us a greater amount of contact with a greater number of people in a smaller amount of time. take, for example, instant messaging or IMing. IMing is far mor efficient than speaking on the phone, in most cases. One can converse with multiple people at the same time, while keeping each strand of conversation coherent and understandable. Also, email, the posting of photo or video links, and sound bytes allow for the exchange of information to take place far more smoothly than through conventional phone or even face to face dialogue. Mostly though, the draw to social networking is the ability to craft our own unique persona for others to see. There are some negative effects to social networking, however.

Social networking online allows for fast and easy exchange of information and the creation of a personal brand. However, this form of communication lacks several important functions. Firstly, it lacks the communicative properties of tone and body language. Tone is that distinguishing feature that allows us to communicate with meaning not merely through words but also with inflection, with emotion or feeling. This is both a physical and verbal trait, which combined with body language make up the greater part of what we use on a day to day basis for communication. Some well versed writers can give tone to their writing, but this is not at all a common ability. There is absolutely no way to show body language. Therefore, clear, direct sentences and adherence to context are the most necessary parts of social networking. Social networking is also burdened with the weight of association. Associations and relationships, which are so necessary to us personally and in life in general, are sometimes too private to allow others to see. Social networking, while having many positive features, can also be a hindrance to emotional communication and to our professional image.

In conclusion, there is a list of do’s and don’ts regarding social networking, as well as a few suggestions.

Do:
• Be aware of how you are portraying yourself to the public. Never let yourself or anyone else sully your reputation.
• Be careful of whom you align yourself with – who your friends are. These are who you are associated most strongly with, and an employer will assume that you hold similar values with them.
• Be courteous and conscientious! Having good mannerisms and being tactful are the most effective tools of interpersonal communication and using them well shows others that you are a skilled and understanding communicator.
• Regularly provide sources for your information (Wikipedia, website URLs, etc.)

Don’t:
• Don’t put anything online that you would not want your mother to see (inappropriate/private pictures, video, or dialogue). Ironically, your mother’s standard of propriety is probably going to be very similar to that of most professional headhunters and employers.
• Never leave posts that are in any way vindictive or overly negative in public. If you get hired by a business, they want to know that if troubles arise you can be counted on to work them out without slandering the company to others you meet or know.
• Never be a rumor-mill. Unfounded or ill-informed gossip can return and wreak destruction on others and severely discredit you or put you in a negative light.
• Never underestimate the power of words, either written or spoken. They have a tendency to get analyzed with a microscope, and they are not easy to get rid of. If you must say something, be sure to say what you mean. It is difficult to misunderstand a direct statement. It is better to say something directly and take responsibility for it up front than it is to say something unclearly, be accused of something, and “take it back” or say it was a misunderstanding. As always, if you must say something negative, say it in private, be direct and make it tactful.

A few suggestions in closing…
• Ask yourself: do I feel the need to have an open social network that anyone can see? If you feel that it is necessary, here are a few possibilities you might explore…
• Make your social profile private. You will still be able to search for friends and communicate with others, but for anyone to see your profile in its entirety, they will have to have your permission
• If you must have a public social profile, make it simple and easy to monitor. Have control over who posts there, and make it clear as to what you think is acceptable. You should still have a private profile for your close friends and relatives, to protect their privacy as well.