Getting Ourselves Back (on Social Media)

For the majority of our class, tonight marks the last class of our journey to earn our Master’s Degree in Strategic Communication. It has been an trying but exhilarating time, full of lessons learned both personally and academically. We’ve brushed up on our writing, communications skills, and most recently, our social media tactics.

We’ve spent hours in various classrooms, with various professors and classmates, discussing social media– how to communicate on behalf of organizations, other individuals and large corporations. Today, many of us spend hours at work on social media sites, logged into accounts that are not are own, scouring conversations and drafting posts for content calendars, often mentioning and highlighting things and ideas, we wouldn’t do so personally.

Personally, the last thing I want to do at the end of the day or during a break from work, is to get back on social media for fun, especially when I have school work to be doing on top of everything else.

As daunting and unappealing as it might sound right now, as practitioners of public relations and strategic communication, I think it’s important, now that we will all have a little more time on our hands for personal use, that we make an effort to get ourselves back. Socially, in all aspects, but especially online. I don’t remember the last time I tweeted and I don’t think I’ve ever made a Facebook status or “shared” anything, but it’s on my new to-do list.

We all have heard numerous times how important it is to market ourselves and to have a professional but genuine presence online.  I came across this Wall Street Journal article, “How to Develop Your Personal Presence on Social Media and in Real Life: Presence, a Mix of How You Look, How You Communicate and How You Behave, Influences Your Social Stature and Ability to Climb the Ranks” and I thought it would be interesting to share for my last blog post, I particularly liked this graphic:

With blurring work-home boundaries, the rise of social media and our 24/7 lifestyle, it’s harder than ever to find and maintain personal presence on the job, on weekends and online. The article goes on to discuss tips for being social and conducting yourself online and when you are physically in your place of work. Because the article is long, below are some highlighted points.

• Find your signature voice, present your authentic self, combine strength and warmth
• Everything comes down to three elements:
  • how you behave
  • how you speak
  • how you look
• Your behavior (gravitas or intellectual heft) is the most important
• Try to stay confident and calm in a stressful situation
• Show your teeth or be decisive even when faced with a hard decision
• Communication is key, be able to express your point of view
• Consistency is crucial
• Beware of creating a disconnect between your online self and your real self
• The first step to finding your presence is self -assessment, ask for feedback
• Don’t try to be someone you’re not
• Be able to talk about yourself (brag) in an artful and graceful way- no one else is going to do it for you

As we move forward into the next chapters of our lives and careers, I think these are some really great points to keep in mind. Good luck to everyone on getting yourself  (and your social media accounts) back!