I have a love for my social media and the audiences that follow me. I love that I can share my story and personal progress online. Before I really grasped how my personal brand was being projected online, I wasn’t aware of the content or story I was sharing with my friends and audience. I blasted out every emotion, rant, thought that came fleeting into my mind in the moment.
I was a freshman in college when Facebook first came out and it was a completely different environment than it is today. We were in the early stages of sharing our entire lives on social media. Today, I have a different appreciation for social media and filter more of what I am sharing, because I am building my brand.
Everyone has a brand, it’s essentially the reputation that we are creating for ourselves on social media, and the entire world in one way or another has access to see what’s going on in our lives.
Below I have listed a few keys commandments that I stay true to when I am on social media. These have helped me build a personal brand and reputation that I am proud of.
- Keep it classy. Don’t share anything you don’t want your mother to see. I have had many moments of weakness where I wanted to rant my emotions or share something political. I have strong and passionate beliefs of where I stand on different issues, but those issues do not belong in my social feed. Additionally, it doesn’t add value to the brand I am creating.
- Keep it Relevant. I don’t care that Brittany Spears was eating a ham sandwich. (If you don’t remember that tweet, here’s the proof that I am aging myself.) This is something I still struggle with. Even though I care about my fitness progress goals, doesn’t exactly mean that my friends and followers care. I try to be mindful of how often I post and don’t want to overwhelm or saturate my friend’s newsfeed.
- Is my boss or future employer watching? I am not a human resources professional, but I am a professional who has had a long career working for a variety of companies and a variety of bosses. All of them having high expectations for their employees and how they presented themselves. Bearing that in mind, I try to keep my I have taken note from my mentors and try to recognize that many people are watching our actions. It comes down to respecting myself, I don’t want to post anything on social media that could bring shame to me our those I care about.
I have learned many of these lessons in a trial by fire. I hope these thoughts and notions help you as you evaluate your social presence and the reputation that you are building online.
Has your social media profile ever blocked you from getting where you want to go?
