Self Branding In the Digital World

Now You Can Be In More Than Two Places @ Once

Ahhhhh…the refreshing start of a new age is beginning to settle and seep in to the minds of mainstream America: The information age that is. For the last few decades, most people have been mentally adapting to the internet and the world of possibilities it provides. In 1988, I remember being around 4 years old when I first used a computer, it was a Macintosh and I used it to play Oregon Trail. By the time ’94 came around I entered my first online chat experience using a different kind of computer software called America Online (AOL). The birth of a new kind of personal identity was created when I registered for a user name on AOL; my virtual identity. By the time 2004 rolled around I had multiple virtual identities on many different sites like Yahoo, Google, and AOL. That’s around the time modern social networking sites were introduced into my life.

“Who you are and what you represent as an individual is what makes you unique and provides the most value to those who are exposed to your profile for the fact that it is REAL.” – D. Phee

I registered for my first social networking (Myspace and Facebook) accounts attending college at UNLV around ’04 or ’05. These social networking sites allowed me to create and update a profile which could be used to represent who I was as an individual. Once my profile was created I was able to automatically search my email contacts from Yahoo and g mail to see who else I already knew using Facebook or Myspace; at that time it wasn’t many people – mainly college buddies. These sites left me awestruck because now, I could type in the name of anyone from my past and if they had a profile, I could connect with them! These connections allowed me to see what my old friends and acquaintances were looking like, their current situation, and their interests among other things.

Social networking platforms have allowed individuals to control how they portray themselves to each other.

What I didn’t realize when I started using social networking sites as a party-hard college student was that I was branding myself to whoever was exposed to my profile. When this realization finally dawned on me I was a bit frantic because by that time I was out of college and searching for employment (’07-’08).

Luckily, social networking wasn’t as popular back then as it is today. I’m pretty sure if my potential employers were savvy to the technology at that time they would have been turned off by the thought of hiring me; especially if they screened me using Myspace or Facebook. Not that I was doing anything out of the ordinary when it comes to college students, but first impressions mean a lot. What would you do as an employer looking to fill an open position if you saw an image of a potential hire doing a keg stand by a bonfire in the middle of the desert? Exactly…

Controlling what people see and what they don’t see on your profile is very important.

That doesn’t mean one’s virtual identity should be a facade of who they really are. Although its wise, in my opinion, to either filter the people who have complete access to your profile or hold back from posting information (status updates) that can be considered a taboo: I believe your virtual identity should represent “YOU” first and foremost. Who you are and what you represent as an individual is what makes you unique and provides the most value to those who are exposed to your profile for the fact that it is REAL. Keep this in mind while creating or updating your profile.

By creating and updating our profiles, we are simultaneously branding ourselves and how we are perceived by others.

Why does this matter? Most people care about what others think of them. Yes, even you renegades out there who are nonchalant and tell yourselves that you don’t care what others think of you – YOU DO! Creating and updating your social networking profiles will represent who you are to everyone who has access to it.

“Self branding happens through your online identities whether you like it or not.” – D. Phee

Hypothetically, lets say you just wrote a book on 5 powerful techniques to quit smoking cigarettes. You have all of your credentials and experience in this field posted on your profile giving you credibility. But in one of the pictures that you uploaded 3 years ago, it shows you smoking a cigarette with a Marlboro T-shirt on. Even though you quit smoking cigarettes shortly thereafter, and the spawning of your idea to write that book came from the techniques you used to personally quit – It’s not a good look to have that picture on your profile when you’re promoting a book that’s supposed to help others quit smoking. That one picture lowers your credibility by a landslide and brands you and your book in a negative light to those exposed to that picture and considered buying your book. Self branding happens through your online identities whether you like it or not.

Lastly, creating and maintaining your social networking identity allows you to leverage yourself to others.

You may not know it but if you currently have a publicly shared profile on one or more social networking sites you could, in theory, be meeting multiple people around the world at the same time. Have you ever heard the saying, “I wish I could be in two places at once?” Well now you can! And you never know who you’re going to meet next through your virtual identity. That’s why it’s so important for your online identity to be representing “YOU” in the best light possible while still staying true to who you are at all times.