[Web Informant] 27 April 2009: Five tips to being more professional on social networks

[David Strom]

Web Informant, 27 April 2009: Five tips to being more professional on
social networks

As more 30- and 40-somethings login to Facebook, begin to Tweet, add
their credentials to LinkedIn and post pictures of their family
vacations to Flickr, it becomes harder to separate your work and
personal personae. And as more employers begin to use these social
networking sites to vet their new hires – assuming that people will
start to have new hires at some point in the future once this
miserable economy turns around – the situation is only going to get
worse.

What got me started thinking more about this was that I am giving a
speech next week to show people how to make the most of LinkedIn, one
of the leading social sites that is used by a wide variety of
professionals to look for work and polish your resume, qualifications
and recommendations from previous employers. Granted, this is not a
new topic – people have been having problems with what they say online
for years. Heather Armstrong, who's Web site dooce.com created the
verb that is used when someone is fired over their blog, was fired
over her blog many years ago (her new book is a real treat and a
collection of some of her writings that is a true joy to read). Now
dooce.com generates thousands of dollars a month in ad revenue. That
is taking lemons and turning them into not just lemonade, but Absolut
Lemon, or maybe even Absolut Gold.

So here are some recommendations for those of you that are new to this
whole Internet thing, to pass along to your less-clueful friends and
relatives.

First, keep sex, politics, religion, and family out of your online
life to the extent that you can. If you feel that you have to tell the
world about these things, think about how a potential future employer
might react to seeing this stuff in your profile. No one really wants
to know that you are a member of the "Republican Party of the Virgin
Islands" (as one of my Facebookers put it), whatever that means.
Another friend is in a committed relationship with his dog, again, not
something I really want to find out the details. And those married
folks that indicate that they would enjoy having relations with a
third party are just too icky for me. Leave some blanks spaces in your
profile in these areas. Too much information!

Second, tell the truth. If you are single and looking for love, then
by all means go online and do your thing and misrepresent yourself
however you see fit or whatever you think will attract potential
partners. But when it comes to talking about your professional
accomplishments, don't exaggerate, invent new job titles, degrees, or
whatever other credentials that you don't have. It isn't worth it, and
eventually it will come back to hurt you or prevent you from getting
that plum job that you covet.  There is also no need to document every
waking and sober moment since college either: just hit the most recent
highlights for now. And when it comes to those non-sober moments,
leave that info on the cutting room floor. No one really wants to see
your expertise with using beer bongs.

Third, if you are one of the unfortunate ones who are presently
between jobs, make LinkedIn and other sites part of a daily ritual.
Whether you spend a few minutes or hours isn't all that important,
just so that you spend some regular time updating your profile and
seeking out to expand your network.

Fourth, decide on what your "friending" policy is going to be and be
consistent, at least for inside each social site that you frequent.
For example, I am most stringent with the people that want to network
with me on LinkedIn, and only accept connections with people that I
have actually met face to face, or who have been long-time email
correspondents. I also routinely refuse connections from headhunters
and HR people, because I am not interested in enriching their
businesses with my connections. But on Facebook, I have a more liberal
friending policy, just because.

Finally, spend some time thinking about how you acquired your existing
professional friends: do you like to meet and greet at industry
conferences? Are you more of a small group or large group socializer?
Do you prefer one-on-one situations? Did you ever co-author anything
and enjoy/detest the experience? Do you tend to keep work colleagues
around for many years that last past the time on the job?  Were you
popular in junior high or peaked in sophmore year? Do you still stay
in touch with your frat brothers or sorority sisters?

Remember that most of us are still pretty new at MyBook and
Friendspace and that even Oprah did her first Tweet in ALL CAPS. Do
experiment and try different strategies, and feel free to share what
works for you if that is appropriate. Just don't send me any links to
those toga party pix.