In his recent article, ‘Congruence and life on the Internet’, Zern Liew brings to light a real sleeping giant for all of us, our ‘digital footprint’ and how it represents us in an on-line world.
We all live multi-faceted lives with careers, family, friends and pastimes. It used to be very easy to keep them separate in a public sense.
Web-based social spaces are becoming very much a part of these once-separate facets, with the sharing of photos with family and friends, connected social networks, connected professional networks and so on.
Zern is so right about the importance of congruence and of being consistent! So much can be learned and even misinterpreted about who we are by our web presence — our ‘digital footprint’.
Google a person’s name and now more than ever you will find them in both professional and social networks. Astute employers are probably already doing this and making decisions about hiring or promoting based on what they think about your presence on these sites.
My advice is to plan your web presence. Think very carefully about the social spaces you join and how you present yourself there. Most importantly, as Zern points out, be consistent! Be a model of integrity.
Assume any comment, post or link you make anywhere will be seen and acted on by your spouse, your employer, your family or others. If you have congruence within your digital footprint, people will trust that you are as you appear. If not, people will be unsure and your relationships and opportunities may suffer.
Robert Rath – http://www.innovation-mentor.com
Think very, very carefully before you sign up to Facebook, to MySpace or to LinkedIn. Opps … too late is it? I recently wrote a short article on your ‘digital footprint’. That trail of information you create out there on the internet that tells anyb
Tracked: Sep 21, 15:17