If you spend any time in social media, can you tell the difference between your online personality and your In Real Life (IRL) personality? Can others?
While we’re all trying to figure out how to harness social media for our businesses, those of us who are out there, involved in virtual relationships, posting random and not-so-random thoughts, find the line between professional and personal lives blurs.
As it should be, IMHO.
For me, relating online with people is easier than IRL. The residual Bell’s Palsy on my face and this slow gait of mine gives me fewer opportunities to make a good first impression. So I take advantage of showing who I really am online. It’s easier to use my words than my facial expressions to get a point across.
It’s not normal to expect that you can keep your personal life from bleeding into your professional life and vice versa. You can spout all the health care info you want online, but if you don’t indicate a skinned knee, a bounced check or a bad hair day, then you might as well be a bot. Personalities are shaped by the things that happen to us. Sharing a little bit of that with your so called “friends” on FB or the Twitterverse only strengthens this virtual fabric that is here to stay.
I expect not to meet everyone I have gotten to know online. And it’s pretty funny that a lot of people I work with see me more on FB than IRL. There’s a lot of license with not having actual face-to-face relationships. But there’s a trust factor at stake. Why care if I post something about my employer, health care reform or current events if I don’t pop in a favorite lyric that’s buzzing in my head, pictures of my kids or my latest recipe? I like the giving part, and I like the getting part. It’s what puts the social in this whole new media package, right?
On the Internet nobody knows what the heck you are if you don’t put any skin in the game. If you’re feeling kinda stiff about it, keep in mind we all did at one time. Baby steps. You want some help? DM me.
@;-)
Lavagal 