Social media can be a real time-sink. There is no doubt. And without a strategy, the danger of spending hours online and getting nothing accomplished is very real.
So, in response to this apparent need of saving people time online, ‘Social Media Aggregation’ services were invented. These services allow you to simply post your update once, and 40 of your social media sites get the update simultaneously.
Seems like a good idea, right?
Well, I say, absolutely NOT. That’s like going to a baseball game and asking, “Who is playing guard?”
Each social media community carries it’s own level of intimacy. And, if you have a strategy for using social media to get your next job, then you wouldn’t have the time-sink issue to begin with.
Let’s review some of the most popular social media sites and what is and is not acceptable. I call this the “Rules of Intimacy.”
LinkedIn Rules of Intimacy
- Yes, LinkedIn allows you to post updates about what you are doing. But it is NOT Twitter.
- Don’t post more than 1 time per day.
- It’s not the place for personal details.
- Do post using your professional keywords.
Twitter Rules of Intimacy
- This is the place to be personal, and you should be at least 80% of the time.
- The more you tweet, the more followers you’ll get and the better your network.
- Don’t try to sell people anything, and likewise, only tweet about your job search 5-10% of the time.
- Interact, thank people for re-tweeting and reply to direct messages.
Facebook Rules of Intimacy
Just a quick note, CareerBuilder.com said 34% of employers rejected someone based on what they found on Facebook. Be careful!
- If you don’t want to use Facebook for your job search, then lock it down. Make sure employers can’t get in there. Learn how here.
- If you do want to use Facebook for your job search, decide if you’ll let strangers see your profile and keep it clean.
- Delete obscene photos, games or applications as well as messages from friends that won’t go over well.
- Option: If you want to keep Facebook for friends but still want to leverage it for your job search, just start your own Fan Page.
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Here’s How to HURT Your Career By Being Too Intimate Online
Some friends of mine decided to call in sick to work and go surfing. They took some great photos of their time at the coast and one friend posted on the other friend’s wall, “We should call in sick more often.”
Their boss had access to their profiles and was checking up on them. Yikes. They didn’t get fired, but they aren’t on good standing either.
Take time to learn the social rules of each community and then follow them.
Remember, quality of interaction is WAY more important than being able to post to 40 sites at once. I’d rather have one good cookie then a bag full of bad ones. Wouldn’t you?
[This article was originally posted on an earlier date]
Joshua Waldman helps frustrated job seekers leverage social media to find work FAST! He is the founder of CareerEnlightenment.com and the author of the new book, “Job Searching with Social Media for Dummies.” Sign-up for his newsletter today and get access to his exclusive training videos for FREE.
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7 Comments
Funny I read this now. About a week ago I integrated my blog with Facebook and Facebook with twitter. What. A. Mess. I deactivated it after a couple of days. I’m thinking this may be the result of the tendency of social media to cross boundaries. Life, work, friends, family….today those roles are much more mixed up than a few years ago. We always said: ‘I’m a marketing manager but I’m also a dad, a son, a friend, a husband etc…’. If up to a few years ago those roles used to be quite separated, today thanks to social media they are brought together more and more. I wonder what the impact of that will be in 10 years, when kids who grew up living and breathing social media enter the workforce. What a clash with today’s generation of managers! I’m going to be one of them. I can use social media, but I wasn’t brought up with them. In my mind i don’t mix up roles. Can’t wait to see what happens.
Have to agree with JT and Kaila about Twitter. I think the disconnect comes from the post being directed to job seekers as the main audience. Those of us in the careers industry are most apt to use Twitter for professional connecting with a personal element. Whereas, I would propose LI for strictly business communications. Remember always that sarcasm may be misinterpreted so even when being personal, a “joke” might be misunderstood.
Have to agree with JT and Kaila about Twitter. I think the disconnect comes from the post being directed to job seekers as the main audience. Those of us in the careers industry are most apt to use Twitter for professional connecting with a personal element. Whereas, I would propose LI for strictly business communications. Remember always that sarcasm may be misinterpreted so even when being personal, a “joke” might be misunderstood.
I agree Kaila. I'm mostly professional on my Twitter feed because my audiences is job seekers needing advice. I think if I had developed a different following, I'd brand the feed different.
I will say my feed is personal in that I choose to put up links to stuff that I personally think is valuable to readers. So, that 80% figure is accurate in that sense for me.
Thanks for sharing and welcome to CAREEREALISM.com!
J.T O'Donnell
Founder
CAREEREALISM.com
I'm def. not personal 80% of the time, but for a good reason: My stream is mostly work related, and my followers know that I'm providing a value add to them because thats why they are following me: for work related advice. Pretty good calls on the advice for LinkedIn and Facebook tho.
I'm def. not personal 80% of the time, but for a good reason: My stream is mostly work related, and my followers know that I'm providing a value add to them because thats why they are following me: for work related advice. Pretty good calls on the advice for LinkedIn and Facebook tho.
I agree Kaila. I'm mostly professional on my Twitter feed because my audiences is job seekers needing advice. I think if I had developed a different following, I'd brand the feed different.
I will say my feed is personal in that I choose to put up links to stuff that I personally think is valuable to readers. So, that 80% figure is accurate in that sense for me.
Thanks for sharing and welcome to CAREEREALISM.com!
J.T O'Donnell
Founder
CAREEREALISM.com