by Caroline Leach | Oct 6, 2016 | Social Media
What do all of your “likes” in social media say about you?
More importantly, what do you want them to say about you?
Do you think before you “like” in Facebook . . . or “heart” in Instagram and Twitter?
Do you consider how that piece of data will be aggregated with thousands of other data points about you?
Do you decide if it will reflect well on you or not?
Just as you should look before you link, you should look before you “like.”
Why? Because of something called The Reputation Economy.
Say what?
In this 2015 book, Reputation.com founder Michael Fertik tells you “how to optimize your digital footprint in a world where your reputation is your most valuable asset.”
Ultimately, Fertik sets forth a compelling case that your digital reputation may shape how you experience the world – for better or for worse.
Over the last year, for example, you may think you’ve been circumspect about your political views. But your political leanings may have been identified, based on your social media activity.
Even more interesting is seeing how your digital footprint may reveal your personality.
By analyzing just a few of your Facebook likes, the University of Cambridge’s psychometric centre will predict several dimensions of your personality. (Updated: actually, DON’T do this. Instead, watch the 2019 Netflix original documentary The Great Hack. It’s about how a data company called Cambridge Analytica came to symbolize the dark side of social media.)
“You are what you like,” the site says.
You may think twice about what you “like” in the future.
Here are my non-algorithmic rules for liking content in social media:
- Always consider how liking something will reflect on you. Will it contribute to – or detract from – what you want to be known for?
- If you’re not sure what certain content could imply, don’t like it. And if you have “friends” who repeatedly post strange content, it might time to unfriend them.
What do you like?
by Caroline Leach | Oct 3, 2016 | Social Media
Nearly 60% of links shared in social media haven’t been read first, the Washington Post and others reported this year.
Don’t do that, if you care about your professional reputation. Take the time to read the content of every link you share in social media.
Sharing content implies your endorsement of it and agreement with it. It’s a similar principle to recommending someone for a job – your reputation is on the line.
What if there’s something lurking in that content link that doesn’t represent your views? How will you know if you don’t read it first?
Josh Ochs, a “digital citizenship speaker who teaches students how to shine online,” says it well for people of all ages. He advises to keep your social media content, “light, bright and polite.”
Here are some guidelines to assess whether or not to share a particular link:
DO share links that:
- Aptly illustrate the topics you and your social media communities are interested in
- Provide relevant and appropriate data and metrics to support key points
- Position your company and its leaders in a positive and accurate light.
DON’T share links that:
- Have disparaging information about your company or its products. For example, because my employer provides video content, I don’t share links that bash TV (this is where I remind readers that opinions are my own).
- Overly focus on your employer’s competitors. Unless you’re an official company spokesperson, it’s better to be silent on competitors.
- Cover topics you don’t want your good name associated with – whether it’s negativity, bar-hopping, gambling or other questionable topics.
- Have any content that could be perceived as offensive or disparaging to any group or groups of people. If you’re not sure, don’t share it.
Always ask yourself if what you’re sharing reflects positively on you, your employer, your family, your community, and so on, before you post. If not, don’t post it.
Here’s a good tip from Bill Duane as covered in The New York Times – ask yourself before you share if the content is true, kind and necessary. It it doesn’t meet all 3 criteria, don’t share it.
When you do have content to share that passes all of these tests, add your perspective. Briefly say what’s important about it. Include a key takeaway or a memorable quote.
And be sure you look before you link!
by Caroline Leach | Sep 30, 2016 | Social Media
Nearly half of college admissions officers look at applicants’ social media profiles.
Ninety-four percent of recruiters use LinkedIn to vet candidates.
Seventy percent of senior professionals say leaders who are active in social media make the company a more attractive place to work.
If you’re not already active in social media in a strategic way, it’s hard to ignore stats like these.
There are so many reasons to ignore social media all together or let your participation wane. Not enough time. Nothing interesting to share. Too much downside.
Yet there are real risks to staying out of the game all together, or staying on the sidelines.
Missed opportunities is the biggest one – in the form of valuable professional and personal relationships, exciting career opportunities, accelerated learning and development, and even fun and entertainment, just to name a few.
With so much attention on avoiding the downside of social media, not enough focus has been put on how social media can make your life better.
But the time conundrum is real. How do you begin? Where do you focus your time and energy? What social platforms should you use? How do you feed the content monster?
That was something Reese Witherspoon got me thinking about. She was the surprise speaker this month at a women’s leadership conference at Fullscreen, the global youth media company.
She was asked about how she’s been super successful in social media. And she talked about social media content creation for people as being a big white space that’s not fully being filled right now.
It was almost like a Legally Blonde moment of its own. A gasp and an a-ha moment on the order of, “I think I’ll go to law school!”
In a moment of clarity, I connected some dots. I love helping people tell their stories. I’m endlessly fascinated and intrigued by social media. And I’ve been advising people, professionally and personally, on their social strategies over the last few years.
How could this all fit together in new and different ways?
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