Be Careful Who Watches Your Digital Life

Friday, 01. 22. 2010  –  Category: Enversa Companies

The world of social networking sites, like MySpace, Twitter, and Facebook, is not only brilliant but addicting.  For many, these are personal accounts utilized to stay connected with friends and family, share basic updates about their lives, and post photos of their kids.  For others, it is their whole universe and key to their social world.  Daily updates, hourly posts, pictures of every at-home project, night out with friends, and vacations, and new diet ideas are posted for review and feedback.  Like any circle of friends, it can take time to adjust and crack the “shell” of personal inhibition.  To request a friend, to confirm a friend, to share plans for the weekend, to post those vacation photos of you in a swimsuit or with a three-foot drink in your hand are all decisions that eventually take less and less time to make because the hesitation of exposing your true self for all to see diminishes.

The common phrase “Facebook Stalker” is used kiddingly, but describes the activity well.  Anyone can see almost anyone’s profile, comments, activities, Facebook friends list, and photos as long as they do the right combination of clicking.  A friend was tagged in her friend’s photo album, so you clicked on it and could see the entire album of photos.  “Hey, I know that guy, too!  Does he know this photo is online?”  A Social Media Revolution video on You Tube displays “What happens in Vegas stays on Facebook, Twitter…”  Some people forget that their social networking site is an endless web of connection.  If they thought six degrees of separation was close, social media has taken the degrees of separation down to two or three.

The book The Whuffie Factor by Tara Hunt describes the benefits and tips on creating “whuffie” by means of social media, an online presence to promote a brand or company and become a trusted and admired entity in your field for those who have access to you via Facebook, etc.  It is a really great concept, but it makes me ask, “When does the influence begin and end?”  On a personal level, how much information should you share?  Should people be aware of the potential damage they could be doing to their image, both personally and professionally, by venting about the frustrations in their life or posting photos of their weekend getaway?  The answer is yes.

People who believe that their social presence on their personal networking account is separate from their professional affiliations are misinformed.  Viewers will make the connection.  Additionally, there are direct connections to your professional success.  Is your boss a Facebook friend?  You might want to rethink posting those sexy pictures from Cabo.  Are any of your customers also your Twitter followers?  You might want to avoid any posts about company lay-offs or your team’s inefficiencies.  If these kinds of people are not directly connected to your site, they probably know people who are.  Do you think information like that won’t be shared?  It probably will.

Everyone should not have to be completely inhibited by the world’s view of them, and everyone else should take what they see on personal networking sites with a grain of salt and a bit of understanding.  However, not everybody does that, and if they don’t really know you personally it could be a negative impact professionally.

Katie Petre works for CornerWorld Corporation, parent company of Enversa.

Tags: communication, Facebook, Katie Petre, security, Social Networking, Twitter, Whuffie Factor