Professionally Personal On Facebook
We’ve reached the point in my personal branding class where my undergraduate business and MBA students are required to set-up a Facebook page. Facebook is a powerful platform for a serious personal brander because of the unique ability it gives you to wrap your personality around your value. But if you are all personality and no value on Facebook, then you are treating Facebook more like a toy for social recreation than a tool to help your career or business.
Most students already had a Facebook page before class started, and many are not going to like the changes I ask them to make for the purposes of my class. The biggest problem for many is going to be cleaning up the photos they’ve posted. I think a good Facebook page should have lots of photos, but for personal branders, those photos should be professionally personal.
Look at every photo you have posted on Facebook. For each photo, think about how that would look on the wall in your office or area at work. If you posted that photo at work:
- Would it violate a company policy?
- Would it make any of your co-workers uncomfortable?
- Would it make any of your customers or suppliers uncomfortable?
- Would it affect how those you’ve been given the privilege to lead think about you?
- Would it affect how your boss thinks about you?
- Would it help or hinder your chances of getting a promotion?
For those serious about personal branding, if you wouldn’t post that picture of you in your workplace then don’t post it on your Facebook page. Forget about privacy; operate your Facebook page as if you have no privacy and then you will never post anything, anytime, anywhere that would threaten any aspect of your personal or professional life. If there is anything on your page that you think needs to be hidden or kept private, just delete it.
Treat Facebook like a coffee shop, not your living room.
The way you operate your Facebook page can help you get a job or get promoted if you demonstrate that you understand how to be professionally personal online. As business becomes increasingly social, employees that are good digital citizens will be very valuable.
Photo credit: I got it from Andrew Heilman; original source unknown.
Related Posts:
Personal Branding: The Power And Peril Of Being Personal In Facebook
Student Branding Blog: How To Not Suck At Facebook
Student Branding Blog: Facebook Is Necessary
About the Author: Bret L. Simmons
Welcome to my blog! Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section of my posts. I publish all constructive, non-anonymous comments. 
This is excellent, Bret. I forwarded your post to my 28 year old son who is a heavy FB user and who works in management for a very large bank. Some of his posts make me wince. His argument is that he uses strict privacy settings. However, I agree with your point that one should post to FB as if there are no privacy settings.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
January 2nd, 2011 at 11:06 am
I think the privacy settings are both a joke and a mistake, Jim. It’s just bad judgment to post things on the world wide web that you think will remain private. Thanks! Bret
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While the boundaries of sharing personal details are rapidly becoming blurred thanks to blogs and social networks, your points about selective posting are well taken, Bret. There are plenty of stories about people who’ve either lost their jobs or not been offered a job because their online image doesn’t match the professional one that the company requires.
It’s okay to be yourself and be interesting online, but don’t put anything out there that might one day come back and bite you. The internet never forgets.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
January 2nd, 2011 at 3:28 pm
Strongly concur, Susan. You must be personal online, but you can’t be unprofessional or stupid. I think it’s a measure of good judgment. Thanks! Bret
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Excellent article Bret, I am always looking forward to learning from you experiences not only in class but from you blogs too.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
January 2nd, 2011 at 3:27 pm
Glad you found it helpful, Alberto. thanks! Bret
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Your post is very thought provoking Dr. Bret. Thank you for starting the conversation.
As I read your post one thing in particular came to mind.
By moderating all of our content, media, and identity on Facebook or any other social media site, doesn’t this bring us one step closer to mediocrity? One step closer to being UNdifferentiated from everyone else? If there are pictures taken of you that you wouldn’t be proud of doesn’t it make sense to choose not to partake in the activity to begin with? We make choices every day to live by the values we believe in or not.
It seems to me that if a personal brand is not built upon a genuine sense of who you are and what we value in every aspect of our life it is being condemned to scandal when our employer, public, or family, etc. finally realize we are different.
On the flip side, if you post pictures, comments, videos, blog posts, and any other media with your voice, your style, and in alignment with your values, not the values of the status quo, then your personal brand has the potential to gain real influence amongst a constituency who trusts you.
Thanks again for starting the conversation and good luck with your class.
Respectfully,
Aaron
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
January 4th, 2011 at 11:07 pm
Welcome, Aaron! you raise some great questions, and I like how you take both sides of the issue. I’ve always thought that I don’t need a picture to prove that I am interesting or genuine. I’m almost inclined to think that if you need a picture to prove it, somehow it says something about you. Five years ago this was hardly an issue, but Facebook has changed the conversation. Thanks, Aaron! Bret
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I just posted a link to your site and this article in particular in my marketing class. I remember when I felt like Facebook was primarily for keeping up with fellow college students, but now everyone is on it. The downside to starting these pages when you are in high school, as so many kids have now, is that when you decide to “clean up” that page to project a more professional image, you almost have to delete it completely and start over. Even then it takes a while to “flush out” of the search engines, so some things could still follow you.
I agree with Aaron though. If you can’t show who you are to the world, maybe either you’re in the wrong line of work (because you can’t be “you” while you’re in it and maintain a professional image) or you need to re-inventory what’s important to you and adjust your life accordingly. Being yourself shouldn’t keep you from giving up your dreams.
With that said, I do think that some employers take it too far. One of my former co-workers said that her former employer would ask for your Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter accounts on your application. If they even saw that you had a picture from the company Christmas party, posted by your previous employer, where you were holding a glass of wine, they would not hire you.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
January 9th, 2011 at 12:32 pm
Welcome, Leeja! I tell my class to open their photo section on Facebook and look at the mosaic. If the general picture is of you being personal, with an occasional picture holding a drink or something, then you should be OK. But if the mosaic is of a party animal, then you should make changes. Why have we let Facebook seduce us into believing that if we don’t have a picture of ourselves doing something in our lives it does somehow not exist, or if we don’t post that picture that we are not being authentic? Facebook lies. Facebook is a tool, not a toy, and we can and should make up our own more sensible rules for how we use the tool. Thanks! Bret
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Bret – I’ve always gone by the policy “If I wouldn’t want my parents to see the photo – don’t post it.”
Fortunately for me, my parents love all of my pictures, scandalous or not. Because of this I’ve had a hard time removing pictures. I’ve asked co-workers in the past to let me know which pictures I should remove on a professional stand point, and I’ve always received positive feedback.
I know my pictures aren’t all professional (or work appropriate), but your bullet list really helped me put into perspective how I should rate my pictures as professionally appropriate versus potentially damaging.
Thank you!! Now if I could just bring myself to delete those “memories” now that I’ve identified the inappropriate photos.
-Ashley
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
March 5th, 2011 at 6:44 am
Welcome, Ashley! I like your idea of making sure your parents will be OK with what you post, but our parents are not our employers or co-workers. And remember, just because they are not posted on Facebook does not mean the memory is gone!!! We had memories and ways to share them before FB showed up and brainwashed us a few years ago. Thanks!! Bret
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Ashley, just because you remove them from Facebook doesn’t mean that the photos have to be gone either. Most of your pictures on Facebook should be downloadable, so even if you don’t still have them on your computer, you can download them before you delete them. You just won’t be sharing them with the world anymore.
I have the hardest time with cleaning up my Facebook because I got involved in playing games on there. When I started my account, I wasn’t going to, but I let peer pressure win out. I don’t want to delete my profile and start over either because of the people that I’ve connected with on there. The couple games I play on there are my one escape from my hectic life, and I just don’t think I’m quite ready to completely let go yet. It’s on my “to-do” list though, as soon as I find an equally mind-numbing escape that I can both pick up and walk away from easily when I need 5 minutes away. I used to write, so maybe I’ll get into that again when I’m done with school. I also want to work on my family tree. Then all my posts on Facebook will be about the family members I found!
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
March 5th, 2011 at 2:24 pm
Peer pressure gets a lot of folks in Facebook hell, Leeja. Great advice, thanks for sharing! Bret
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This is great way to explain the lack of privacy and when to post or not post. I’ve tried to convince my son that his posts and photos WILL negavitely impact him, but as an 18 year old, believes he is invincible.
If you have a solution to the following dilemna, I would love to hear it: If you are tagged in a benign photo posted by a friend’s album, your FB friends can in some (many) cases see the entire album, which may be available to “Friends of Friends”. The album may contain photos of you that you would prefer not to make public. Is there any way to address this other than asking the friend to delete the photo from their album? Thanks.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
July 27th, 2011 at 7:01 am
Welcome, Diane. Your son would be wise to listen to your advice, because it’s true. To your question, if you like the photo you are tagged in, download it so you can have to view personally, then untag yourself in the photo and explain to your friend why you did so. Thanks! Bret
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