We all know we can choose our friends, and we have been doing it as soon as we start interacting with people at a young age. As we grow and develop our own social skills, we refine our processes so that we are able to determine who we want to spend time with and who we don’t. Our parents taught us as well that we should look at the whole person and not base our judgements or assumptions with how people look or appear.
That is well and good though in the real world and creating real world friendships. The Internet, it seems however, almost forces us to judge someone off a two sentence bio and 75×75 avatar. I am not going to delve into the social ramifications of this scenario, but rather I want to focus on how to make sure you are represented properly on your various profile pages on your social networks. The reason being is that more and more employers and clients are searching your name, and making decisions about you as a person, based on your network profile.
If people are going to pass judgements, and lets face it, it’s going to happen, lets make sure its as close to the true representation of you as much as possible. Lets go through some basic tips.
Make Sure Your Updates Are Current
Prove to anyone that is visiting your profile that you are active on the network. No one likes people that don’t contribute in face to face conversations and it is equally important on social networks. I know myself, I’m more inclined to follow someone that is regularly contributing rather than someone who comes once a month for self-promotion.
Bring Sexy Back
As mentioned, the world is a superficial place. A good quality picture that proves to everyone you are not a company, or a bot, or a brand puppet goes a long way to establish your credibility. It also helps to use the same picture across multiple networks so you are easily recogniseable when people go looking for you. Also a great tip if you are trying to brand yourself as an authority.
If you have a little bit too much fun on the weekend, do a little bit of online reputation management on yourself too, by making sure the photos that your friends upload of you that you probably don’t want your boss or clients finding stay that way.
Give More Than You Take
Applies more so to Twitter than some of the other ones, but if the network allows, a lot of people will scan your recent updates and base their acceptance of you as a friend by what you are doing on said network. Make sure you (and I *shudder* as I type this phrase) “add value” to your friends/followers, that you offer suggestions and help, and be engaging with your more trival updates. A well rounded member is more likely to be respected and continually grow their network.
By following these recommendations, you are sure to be an honest and model member of your network. Whilst they might only judge you off a picture and 1 hour’s worth of updates, they will not regret that decision a week later.
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