Personal Branding on Facebook: The Dos and Donts
Filed under: All, Brand-Yourself.com, Careers, How To, Networking, Personal Branding, Skills, Web Identity, facebook, interviews, job search, reputation management, social media
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Facebook is growing fast and as their list of users grows so does the list of people getting hired, fired, embarrassed and shunned. Before we jump into some of the classic do’s and dont’s of creating a personal brand via Facebook, lets take a look at the truly staggering growth of the social network juggernaut:
August 26th, 2008: 100 million users
January 7th, 2009: 150 million users
April 8th, 2009: 200 million users
July 15th, 2009: 250 million users
September 15th, 2009: 300 million users
Friday, November 6th, 2009: 325 million users
(Mashable)
These numbers show that Facebook has been growing by nearly half a million users daily since they hit the 100 million mark in August.
As you can see there are vast opportunities on Facebook for personal branding but the opportunities for tainting your reputation or losing your job are even more vast. In fact, nearly 1 out of 10 employers now admit to firing employees because of their activities on Facebook (I am willing to bet the actual number is much higher because many employers would never openly admit to doing this, even in a survey.)
Facebook Personal Branding Donts: Some True Stories of Facebook Fires
DON’T assume people can’t read between the lines when you post anonymously:
Adam B. Los Angeles, CA: “I was mutually terminated for my Facebook. I wrote anonymously about a co-worker but a buddy of hers found my post and ratted me out to HR.”
DON’T post pictures of you in your underwear:
Doreen Morino: “I just got fired because of Facebook. A picture of me in my underwear did the trick”
DON’T post anything unprofessional when you’re friends with your boss:
I updated my status as “ready to go home so I can drink and party with friends”
So, my ultraconservative company said that I apparently did not want to be at work and therefore terminated me because “I did not fit into the company’s culture”
Nevermind the fact that I hired 60 people in 2 weeks, found 15 temps in 3 days, and had endless compliments by upper management about my work. I was productive and had a good attitude about work–yet they terminated me.
Facebook Personal Branding Do’s
DO use privacy settings:
This seems like a pretty obvious one but many people don’t realize just how much control Facebook gives you with your privacy settings. For instance, you can organize your friends into groups and let each individual friend only see certain parts of your profile. Next time your boss tries to be your friend (or your mother), you don’t have to ignore them, just let them see the good and hide anything that may be questionable. Also, be sure your profile isn’t set to public, you’d be surprised what kinds of things employers may hold against you. Below is a perfect example, she didn’t even do anything wrong so when she never got a call back after the interview she likely had no idea why.
“We interviewed an excellent applicant and checked her out on Facebook afterward. She had 236 friends, which made us wonder if she would be spending a lot of time on Facebook, IMing, texting, getting emails, receiving phone calls, etc. Plus, one of her interests was “being a smart ass.” Not worth the risk on this end.” (For more info on privacy settings check our 10 Privacy Settings every Facebook User Should Know.)
DO have a reasonable profile picture:
Your profile picture is the first and many times only thing people find when they look for you on Facebook. It is also the thing that shows up on a Google search. Keep it “PC” because even if you change your profile picture it often times has already made its rounds across the web and is officially immortalized. The photo below is the classic example that has been circulating around the web for a while now. She was fired from her teaching position a mere month or so before getting her teaching credentials because of this photo dubbed “drunken pirate.”
DO keep personal arguments to the phone lines:
Come on guys, do you really want some heated argument from your early twenties immortalized on the internet for your grandchild 40 years from now to hold over your head?
DO fully fill out you
r profile, join relevant groups, update often and BE REAL:
The most important thing you can do in personal branding on Facebook, and anywhere else for that matter, is be yourself. Paint a picture of who you are as an individual, highlight the things that make you unique and show your passions. Genuineness always goes a lot farther than a facade.
There you have it, some of the most important do’s and dont’s of personal branding on Facebook. Facebook is most definitely the number one brand killer and humiliation machine out there but by thinking logically before you post and interact with the right people you can easily build rather than bust your brand.
Evan Watson is an independent writer and the Chief Evangelist at Brand-yourself.com. At Brand-yourself.com Evan Watson combines his passion for writing, entrepreneurship, and making meaningful connections with new people.
Evan Watson is also a self-proclaimed adrenaline junky and enjoys kite-boarding, snowboarding, and wakeboarding. For Evan, family comes before anything else, and he attributes his success and growth almost entirely to being raised in an extremely eclectic, multi-cultural family.
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