4 Lies about social media
Everyone knows that the best way to get a job is to leverage your network. And almost everyone knows that social media is a great way to build your network.
But many of you are making lots of social media mistakes. I know because so many people tell me that social media is a waste of their time. They're wasting their time, and continuing to make mistakes, because there's a set of common lies that people believe about social media. Here are those lies:
Lie #1: LinkedIn is for networking.
LinkedIn is great. I'm on LinkedIn. I have 650 connections. At first I wondered, why do I need this list of connections published on LinkedIn? What was the purpose of it? But now I get it. With LinkedIn, people can tell that I am a very connected person.
Most of you already know I'm well connected—I'm a print journalist, blogger, and startup founder, which are all very network-intensive jobs. But if you're someone who doesn't know how to tell whether someone is connected, LinkedIn is a great scorecard.
Potential employers like LinkedIn because they can glance at your LinkedIn profile and get a sense of how connected you are and how much money you make. (Yes, large networks correlate to large salaries.) That’s the utility of the scorecard.
But what you cannot do on LinkedIn is build a network. Networks are built on relationships, which grow from conversation. LinkedIn is not for conversations. So you need to go somewhere else to build your network, and then, when it's big, display it on LinkedIn so you'll look great.
Lie #2: Twitter is for conversation.
So if you need conversation to grow relationships into a network, then you look for the social media tools that are for conversation. Right? Twitter seems easy. It's only 140 characters, so it's appealing to someone who is weary of spending every waking minute using social media.
The problem with using Twitter for conversation is that we need more than 140 characters to make a genuine connection with someone. So you're not going to have a whole conversation there; Twitter is great for finding people who have similar ideas, and for keeping track of them in a superficial way.
But you still need to go elsewhere—offline or online—to solidify the relationship to the point where you would actually care about each other in the way a solid network connection does, but Twitter is a good start.
Lie #3: Blogs are personal journals.
Your blog is a record of what you're thinking, and that record will represent you online, as a high-ranking search result when someone googles your name. So if you care about building a network, you'll stop using your blog as a diary.
Your blog is intellectual exercise for you—to keep yourself thinking in a disciplined way about things that interest you. And it's an intellectual exercise for other people—to follow your thought process and decide if they'd like to engage you in conversation. The blogosphere is a cocktail party for the intelligentsia without J Brand jeans or Jimmy Choo shoes. It's just ideas, bouncing back and forth, and you're deciding who to talk to.
I know I'm always telling people to stop worrying about what their blog is going to be and to just start blogging. I say this assuming that you understand that a blog is a networking tool. It's one of the most important ways you can create career stability, by being who you are and connecting with people who like you for who you are. Your blog is a career-management dream-come-true.
Lie #4: Social media is no place for business.
The most common thing idiots say to me about my company is that we are never going to make money. But, we already do. Because companies definitely understand the need to leverage social media to meet their bottom-line goals. And my company helps them do that.
Companies understand they need to participate in conversation, and they are looking a professional places to do it. If you want to be known to companies, you will use social media to allow them to get to know you. (Wait. This just in. Government agencies get it as well! Check out the TSA’s stellar use of social media. A mommy blogger wrote a post accusing airport security of taking her son from her during a security check. TSA disputed her claim by posting video of woman and her son on the TSA blog. The mommy blogger published an apology.)
Which brings me to the seven-second rule. Someone who just met you for the first time, in person, will give you about three seconds to impress them. So you are very careful to show your best first impression in this situation. You already know this.
The same is true online. You probably get ten seconds instead of seven seconds, but the person will google your name, looking for something relevant in the top results, and click. If they are not impressed in the first ten seconds, they won't keep reading about you.
If they go to Facebook, you have no idea what they'll find out about you because so many people write on your wall about unprofessional things. If they end up at LinkedIn and you have a relatively shallow level of experience, you will not look good next to the typical LinkedIn user who is 40 years old, earning more than $100K, and has 15 years of experience.
So where do you want people to meet you for the first time online? Somewhere they can hear you talking about ideas. For bloggers, this is often a blog URL. Others could try Brazen Careerist, where your profile is comprised of your thoughts and ideas—you, being you.
Thanks for including the TSA bit, I hadn’t heard of it and it’s making me laugh to read about it…
Blogs certainly can be personal journals. Many certainly are. Some of them are very good–Dooce, for example.
Other great blogs defy your prescription that blogs need to be focused: Kottke.org, and Scripting News, for example.
Even some great focused blogs are often *un*-focused: Instapundit is mostly about politics, except when it isn’t.
I just plain disagree with you on this point.
“So if you care about building a network, you'll stop using your blog as a diary.”
That’s true– if the primary purpose of your blog is building a professional network to advance your career.
Business is important, but it’s not the only important thing.
Penelope,
I’ve read your blog for awhile and enjoy it. I personally think you’re hurting your brand a little bit by making it “the company blog.”
Your posts have become much less frequent than before and when you do post, it’s often in some way to pimp the benefits of your new social media network.
I’m a little disappointed with it. It’s no big deal, I’m just one person. I still like you’re writing. The space in my RSS feed isn’t some huge important loss. I have less desire to read your posts, now, though, than I ever have in the past.
Just my $.02. Best of luck.
The biggest struggle I have right now is how to write this blog and do my company at the same time. I want to be good at both. I used to think it’s a time management thing, but it’s actually more complicated than that.
To give you a sense of how complicated it is, I do not actually own the name Brazen Careerist — I sold equity in the name, and it is owned by my company. So I will be taking that name off my blog soon. Which should go a long way in straightening out my sense of what to write about on the blog.
Here’s a problem with promoting stuff on my blog. I hate doing it because it’s so difficult, but I do it well. For example, it was difficult to write the post about my friend, Ramit’s book. I love the book, and I love Ramit. But I hated writing the post. And the thing is, that it sold a ton of books for him.
Here’s the link: http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2009/03/25/warning-i'm-promoting-my-friend's-book/
I have that problem with my company too. Of course, I really believe in what Brazen Careerist does. But I am never sure how to write about it here. I think about that question every single day.
So this comment, which basically says that I am solving the problem the wrong way, may or may not be right. But trust me, I see the problem and I’ll fix it. And, Todd, I hope you’ll wait on that unsubscribe button, because I can tell from your comment that you’re the kind of reader I love having.
Penelope
Here’s an idea. Write about someone who has really benefited from a Brazen Careerist profile. There must be hundreds of examples. For example I received excellent advice about what to ask for when negotiating a contract for some freelance writing work. I posted a question mid negotiation to the professional writers group(I quickly joined) and it was immediately answered. A few minutes of to and fro and I was set. I don’t know what I would have done otherwise. The net search, phone call, ask your mum process would have been quite lengthy I imagine. I had great advice at my fingertips. The 140 character length was a bit frustrating though.
From time to time Tyler Cowen does a “request for requests” post and people comment with their ideas for what they’d like to see him post about. Then he writes about whatever suggestions strike his fancy.
I just read what I wrote again. I like “your” writing (not you’re). I understand your dilemma. That would be tough. I’m not planning on unsubscribing yet. I’ll keep reading for the times that you write something special.
Thanks for the response.
Just keep writing! It is all good. Readers don’t have to agree with everything, we are not going to run around and do things or buy things you write about just because you blogged about them. At the end of the day, information from a conscious and wise person is a good thing- we (your readers) will take it from there.
To say “The mommy blogger published an apology” in the way you do sounded like she apologized to TSA, but when I read her 2nd post, it’s more of an apology to her readers for being unavailable due to being, among other things, overwhelmed with hate mail. She didn’t retract her version of the events.
Lately it seems like your posts have been trending more toward redundantly promoting BC.com than the beautiful writing that usually makes this blog. I’ll keep reading because, hey– no shame in promotion, but I for one miss the rich content.
I thought this post was great – and it’s a great nutshell of what social media is.
Maybe I missed it. What’s the point of LinkedIn? Is it just like Facebook, where people are more selective about who they friend?
Linkedin is a professional networking website where you are selective about your contacts plus you don’t post pictures of drunken vacations, political rants, or boyfriend/girlfriend stuff. Also kind of like monster.com but without the job listings, obnoxious advertising, and scam work-at-home emails.
Econobiker – Linkedin has job listings. If you go into the group discussion boards, you will find plenty of spam.
John – Linkedin is posturing for the business world. Display your resume. Display your contacts. Join some business groups on it. Make a few recommendations on a quid pro quo basis. Post some comments or questions that demostrate your great insight.
LinkedIn has been a big benefit to me. I’m a self-employed graphic designer and I’m dependent upon marketing myself. Yet, cold calls and pushy elevator speeches are very hard for me.
LinkedIn has solved all that. I can meet this network of business associates, view their contacts, ask for referrals, join group discussions, ask questions, answer questions/establish expertise and so much more. Best of all, I can promote myself without being obnoxious about it – much easier online than in person.
LinkedIn is something where what you put into it, is what you get out of it. I try to spend a few minutes a day quickly perusing. Then I also try to spend a few hours one day a week going through more deeply, searching possible job opportunities and putting my name out there. I’ve only been on a few months and I’ve already gotten jobs. I’ve also made tons of connections that could very easily lead to jobs in the future.
How topical! I just organized a seminar for people in job transition, “Putting Social Media to Work For You,” on using social media to get your resume out. Our speaker made some of the exact same points – people who complain that social media is useless for job-hunting are just using it wrong. She touched on LinkedIn (of course) but also twitter and personal blogs, which I had never considered “business” forums – but it all makes sense! Thanks for posting this (despite the plug for Brazen Careerist at the end)
Penelope,
Trying to please all the people all the time is a bit of a losing proposition. I read your blog for the smart cookie who is straightforward, insightful and irreverent enough to just say what, in most cases, both amuses me and gives me a perspective that I find considerable value in. Regardless of the promotion, which we all need to do to some degree just to make a living. I think you should not feel the need to apologize at all, to any reader. People can always unsubscribe – so be it. Please write when you want, what you want and put whatever commercials you feel you need to in there in order to pay the bills. Frequency is your business and besides “absence makes…”
Just don’t apologize or make excuses for being who you are.
That is when you lose people like me.
Dan Collins
Chief Operating Officer
AddVenture
Penny,
Many people my age still don’t get social media… but that’s changing. Like any relatively new product, there are early adopters of every age, moreso among the young. But where this is concerned the lifecycle is still in it’s infancy and it will probably take another 5 years before people my age and older embrace it wholeheartly. Now comes the tough part, the topic of this post, using it correctly. No one I know uses this medium correctly, by your definition. That hurdle will only be crossed once the newness of it wears off, and the What’s IIFM factor (other than interfacing with my friends) kicks in. I give that a low probability of occurring, even with entities like the BC. But I could be wrong and have been before.
My2centsworth
P.S. I wish I too could be one of the next generation of professionals instead of a washed up has been:)
Ah, but I think us oldies (I’m 50) are still the next generation.
I feel that way, anyway. I’ve been in my current career less than 20 years so I still feel new, fresh and anxious to learn. I plan to keep at this forever, unless a new career sparks my fancy along the way.
Personally, I like hanging with Gen X and Y better than my own because I like their attitudes better. And this is not a generational thing, it’s an age thing. I liked my 50-year-old friends’ attitudes better when they were 20-30. Back then, we all were excited about life, new no limitations, and didn’t complain about health ailments.
Sophie – I echo your comments. I’m 54 and 10 years new at my profession. I’m much more energized by Gen X and Y – they talk about ideas and possibilities rather than aches and pains. Keeping up with new technology is exciting as well and fun! And don’t we all need a little more fun in our lives.
Thanks for the post, Penelope!
Its true. The older we are, the wiser we are getting.
Great blog! What I have found until you start to build a network and utilize these online tools you really don’t get it! Just spend a little time everyday and watch what happens in a year.
Jeff LeFevre
JTL Services, Inc.
The TSA story is a gem, worthy of an entire post on 400 ways to get caught in a lie using social media.
Being authentic is so important! It is amazing how many people post lies for “their whole world” to see. These facebook fakers should not friend anyone they actually know in real life.
It appears as though this blogger had the same false sense of anonymity about airport security when she made up the story following her TSA meltdown. The world gets smaller every day!
P.S. Regarding your insecurity about promoting Brazen Careerist on your blog, maybe you are trying too hard to be subtle and work in smoothly. Try giving your readers more credit. My favorite of your BC mentions so far was your tweet about how you try to trade the farmer favors for setting up a profile. That is passion!
Suzy
I really liked this post. Especially the part about LinkedIn. When I first graduated college I heard all about LinkedIn and how “it’s a great networking tool”, blah blah blah. But it’s so hard to use! Not once have I ever made a real “connection” on that site. It’s good to display my professional profile, add writing samples, etc etc, but in terms of connections? P, you’re right on the ball as usual. Connections come from people. Who you meet, have phone convos with, whatever. You can figure out WHO to contact via LinkedIn, but the real communication comes from outside.
I would more like to hear what you think 1-4 ARE for, as opposed to what you think they are NOT for. I pretty much agree what they are not for, but I am looking for a bit more insight as to what they can be best used for. Maybe I missed that…………lol
“Because both companies definitely understand the need to leverage social media to meet their bottom-line goals.”
After a few posts of the importance of good writing, why this jargon dump sentence? In English, I think that it means “use social media well”. I am curious about how the business model for Brazen Careerist because it could go a number of ways, and well, call me an idiot, but this sentence does not help at all. Makes me wonder if your team is still deciding on the business model.
There’s a typo. Both is left over from another draft of the post. (I’ve fixed it now.) So, even though I’ve posted about how typos don’t matter (here’s the link to that one: http://tinyurl.com/cqr3dq) maybe this is an example of where a typo matters…
Penelope
Dear Penelope. This was my first exposure to your writing. I dug it within seconds. Many thanks for a beaut article. Best regards, P. :)
I especially liked the ‘first impressions’ part of this post – the link to the seven-second rule and the comparisons of face to face and online first impressions. I need to be mindful of these things when meeting people for the first time. I think I do most of the things outlined to give a good impression though without really thinking about it.
The star performers make an effort to do all of the things mentioned in a very graceful and smooth way. I think that’s where some of the coaching you have mentioned in past posts comes in handy.
I can remember a good friend and co-worker in my first job out of college telling me about a sales person he knew and dealt with at work. Evidently this sales person was well paid and very slick because he could have you believing he was your best (or at least a very good) friend in a matter of about ten minutes. Well, maybe fifteen minutes, but I think you get my point. Hard to believe there’s people that good but I guess it’s true.
That was a really useful explanation of social media. Now I wish I hadn’t ignored all those people inviting me to join linked in:) Bummer!
So don’t you use Facebook? At first I wanted to keep it for friends I’ve met (if you know what I mean) but that didn’t last.
I’d like to compartmentalize and have the business me in one place and the real me somewhere else but that’s not going to work. Just got to hope that some people will be happy to work with someone with an unconventional lifestyle and a quirky sense of humor:) That’s me and that’s what they’re going to get!
Penelope,
Your characterization of the “mommy blogger” posting an apology as if it were a retraction is twisting things.
According to her apology, she is saying sorry to her readers for having to take her site down.
She does mention that the video seems to be creatively edited by the TSA and leaves out some details that would validate her story.
I wouldn’t applaud any government agency that splices a video to discredit a private individual who has cried foul in the public square.
Surely there is a better example.
I agree there may be more to the TSA story. Mommy Blogger certainly didn’t retract her accusation. In fact, she defends it and gives us the option of believing either her or them.
Personally, while one never will know what really happened, I felt a little disturbed watching how inefficiently TSA’s security handled the situation. It looked like they were intentionally moving as slow as possible simply because they knew she was frustrated. Looks like a power trip to me. That alone causes concern.
BTW, if you’ve ever traveled with a toddler, you know how totally exhausting it can be.
I think LinkedIn is for networking. Not so much on the conversation side of networking, but it is good for finding the right people and having them open to talking to you. We have a lot of college-aged job seekers on GottaMentor.com, and in my postings I often encourage them to take advantage of LinkedIn. Even if you are young with little experience, there are great ways to take advantage of networking, in the sense of finding the right people, on LinkedIn. Many colleges do not allow current students access to their alumni directory. We all know how important those connections could be. LinkedIn is better than most schools’ directories with more current information from more graduates. It’s easy to search LinkedIn to find people with relevant experience and the alma mater connection. 9 Tips to Use LinkedIn to Help You Get Your Ideal Job – http://bit.ly/M6HBp
Yes, this. LinkedIn is an opportunity to access other people’s professional networks. The larger your network and the networks of your linked peers, the more likely you can connect with someone in a relevant position for business purposes at any point. I’ve reached out to people in companies where I know not a soul but where there are contacts connected through a common acquaintance, and have had really great results come from it.
I’m not saying the ‘scorecard’ effect doesn’t exist because it certainly does, but to say it isn’t a networking tool is misleading, and to suggest that the scorecard is the ‘purpose’ of LinkedIn feels patently incorrect.
Andrea, well said.
The mommy blogger did not apologize to the TSA…she apologized for being unavailable to her readers. She actually maintained her version of the events. She might have overreacted and htat is reflected in her post..but i believe her version of the events. You need to read your stuff more carefully!
Thanks, Penelop, for a concise and clear explanation on myths about social media. Really well done. Too many others drone on about the benefits/drawbacks of LinkedIn, Twitter, etc., but you nailed it.
Penelope:
I believe that you can use Twitter for conversations. As a matter of fact, there are more than 60+ scheduled Twitter chats around specific topics each week such as #lrnchat, #eventprofs, #kaizenchat. Using a hashtag and filter (such as Tweetchat, Tweetdeck, Tweetgrid or other 3rd party apps), people participate in real time discussions with a moderator and others. The hashtags also provide a unqiue way to find your community in Twitter quickly. I’ve grown some great relationships through Twitter chats that I would have never made anywhere else. And current research shows that participating in a polylogue, (not a dialogue like here or monologue like reading a blog but multiple conversations at once) actually increase learning, retention and collaboration.
@Sophie,
I guess where you belong has more to do with one’s outlook, education, and attitude than it does one’s age. I wish young people thought that way:)
I disagree with a few things about this article.
On LinkedIn, people who aren’t connected to you can’t even tell how many connections you have if you have more than 500 because LinkedIn will tell them that you have 500+ connections.
Also, I think a lot of people realize that you can inflate your number of connections by connecting with “open networkers” who will connect with anyone. In fact if you go to the http://www.toplinked.com/ website, you can sign up for a weekly list of 1500 people that will connect with you within a day or two, so the concept of using LinkedIn to see how connected you are may not be true.
Just my $2
I like your perspective of how to use social media and how to think about how it relates to the individual’s needs. I agree that we should be thoughtful about how put ourselves out there and make sure it paints an accurate picture of who we are.
The problem I find is that one’s learning curve is also on display for all to see. The foot prints we leave in the sand have a long shelf life on the net.
Confused by the reference to “without J Brand jeans or Jimmy Choo shoes.” Why plug those brands?
Disagree on several points:
1. I think you are under-valuing linkedin.com. I’m involved in sales and marketing for the apparel industry, and I have gotten more business in the real world from linkedin.com than any other single source. I’m sure it’s dependent on the industry, but I consider my facebook for play and my linkedin for work.
2. The importance of blogs. I can see blogs being important if your business IS your blog, or if you are in a consulting type of gig. For most traditional employment, I doubt that a prospective employer would even search for your blog, and I would certainly not put it on a resume.
The Brazen Careerist page you link to at the end of your blog is more compelling than a lot of the content on the main page and sub “intro” pages on your site now. The list of “how BC can…” statements concretely tells me what BC will do. Maybe not bury that in a ‘help’ section. Now if only I were in my 20s I’d join. :)
re: “we need more than 140 characters to make a genuine connection with someone” — I believe that’s why you are allowed to make more than one tweet a day. Just sayin. :)
great post, ime if you want to get more connections, fans, followers, it’s important to focus on building value and doing something worthwhile, just being part of a social network isn’t going to automatically get you millions of friends, also linkedin can be used to get more connections… through joining and participating in groups e.g. linked in open networkers (lions) who will accept all friend requests
The “both”typo in the “leveraging social media to achieve bottom line goals” wasn’t really what caused me to comment. It was the use of the word “leverage” and “bottom-line goals” that rank up their with “impactful” as bad jargon and thus unclear writing. With the bigger issue is that the sentence didn’t help me understand your business model.
Saw in the previous post that you went to New Trier. Congrats on surviving and getting out. I went to HP and we were all thankful that we didn’t got to New Trier. It’s not a fun place.
There’s nothing wrong with promoting BC in your blog. I still found this entry insightful and relevant to me. If you can make great posts while promoting BC, then that’s wonderful and not something you should look to change.
Astute.
Insightful.
Well-presented.
And to the point.
Excellent post about social media. Having been around long enough to worked in the old school, I find many too many people today rely almost 100% on electronic communication and think they are building relationships.
Penelope,
Great post… in many ways you cut to the heart of the issues on how to leverage these networks for your career or personal brand.
The only distinction I would add is for those who are not leveraging social media for purely career-driven purposes. There are so many personal uses of Twitter and blogs that are almost magical in how open they are, but clearly, it is not for the purpose of acting as vanilla and purposeful as you can – all with the goal of expanding your career.
Thanks – have a great day!
-Dan
I think it’s inevitable to have an effect of one’s professional activities on her blog…and if you actually believe in what you are saying, you shouldn’t be ashamed…of course a balance is required while endorsing vested interests…
BTW, why would Linkedin not be a tool to communicate? it has a nice “groups” feature…
Just keep writing! Readers don’t have to agree with everything you write, we are not going to run around and do things or buy things you write about just because you blogged about them. At the end of the day, information from a conscious and wise person is a good thing- we (your readers) will take it from there.
I've always been a cynic of social media, especially blogs. I liked what was said, that blogs are not to be used as a diary. Your blog reflects you and first impressions do matter, so talk about something of value. I always wanted to start blogging but my major concern, is will I connect to people? It's making me a bit nervous now because I never thought of it as a business forum but it is…it's a lot of responsibility when you think about it, staying true to yourself and your readers. How do you find that balance?
Maybe it would be a lie if you don’t use it properly or you don’t know exactly why you are doing it. This is not an end all…there are factors to consider.
It’s pretty controversial thoughts
I don’t know if I fully agree with LinkedIn not being a proper networking tool. The key is joining groups in which you have something in common. I have gotten some good information from the group discussions.
I totally agree with LinkedIn and pretty much all of your post and actually anything you write! But it seems impossible to get recognition and uniqueness as a writer, especially if you like pushing boundaries when potential employers are going to be googling you.
I’ve been published before and recently I’ve started blogging in a personal/professional manner. Example:
http://copywritingadventures.blogspot.com/2009/12/being-yourself-only-dont-it-depends.html
It’s not me on the site and though I’m still trying to inject the dry topics with some satire and personality, I’m constantly holding myself back from being me. At least until I’m established enough to be me more freely.
But then what I’ve established wouldn’t be me so much as brand-me.
Sometimes, I feel like I have multiple personalities when writing for different blogs. I placed my Facebook profile on complete secrecy because there has to be somewhere people that know me can actually listen to me being me or record the journey from sanity to wherever it is I am now!
Maybe I’m just cursed to incessantly driving myself crazy! Damn, if only I could monetize that!
See, I’m so nuts I didn’t even do the hyperlink right. Serves me right for never taking a break!
I think the blog is great. I use LinkedIn as well as other means of social media to get my product name out there and to let people know that there are easier solutions to help their business grow without spending a huge amount of money. Thanks for posting!!
Blog or weblog is certainly developed for personal diary, but as times come, many people create more innovation in it and make it much more interactive, powerful and multi-featured. That’s why the common use of todays blog has much been altered. It’s rare to see a blog like yours, which still originally be a personal diary.
I have tried the Twitter and Facebook thing for my Business. Even tried blogging 2 or 3 times. But what you said about relationships is very correct. I myself do not have clients “I have relationships”. This is done face to face. It can not be done on 140 letters on twitter or posting up on facebook.
I can put them on Facebook after I have a relationship with them but I must constantly wash the walls from comments from other friends who are either not work related or have a sense of humor detrimental to keeping a relationship with Professional people.
So my face to face works better in this trying time.
The mommy blogger did not apologize to the TSA – she apologized for being unavailable to her readers. She actually maintained her version of the events. She might have overreacted and htat is reflected in her post..but i believe her version of the events. You need to read your stuff more carefully.
I’ve noticed that a lot of people seem to think social networks will automate their marketing of their businesses in some way. Problem is, there’s no way to keep up with the explosion of social networks and “faux friendships”.
Of course if you’ve got the capital, you hire a VA to run your social networking for you and hide behind the curtain like the Wizard of Oz. But my educated guess is that the majority of people trying to get marketing traction with social networking are devoting an inordinate amount of time to a marketing medium that’s very tough to measure in terms of effectiveness. Some are blinded because they LIKE tweeting or “making new friends”. It’s okay if you like strolling with your head down, poking your blackberry, absorbed in your own cocoon like RainMan, Twittering about the meal you just ate – but is it effective marketing? Doubtful.
Thanks for posting this I use social media alot for my business and you have to be careful to keep business and pleasure separate as you have no idea who is watching it does not take much for your branding to be tarnished its amazing. I use everything facebook, twitter, linked in and many more..
You are right about not making your blog a diary of things that you wouldn’t want other to perceive you. And right again about Twitter limiting too much and wouldn’t help much connection that’s why Brazencareerist was born, right?