I am working to practice what I preach. I have done some serious organizing in the last couple of days to really take advantage of social media. I signed up for twitter today. My younger brother nearly fell out of his chair when I told him. Although I like to talk about myself and my family as much as the next person I will be using the blog and twitter for professional reasons only. My twitter address is @HelpfulRDH unfortunately @HelpfulHygienist (which would match the blog) had one to many letters so I had to improvise. It was really easy to sign up and creating a profile was fun and helped get my creative juices flowing. Even if you do not tweet anything yourself you can stay ahead of the masses by following industry leaders or companies. I have not decided what my first tweet should be. I thought about advertising the blog- but it is still a little too empty for that.
I signed up for a LinkedIn account about two months ago and only because I was trying to find contact information on a hygienist that I wanted to interview for my presentation. I am realizing the benefits of the account slowly but surely. I spent about twenty minutes today updating my profile, writing summaries etc. You can even upload your resume. I am working on updating my resume myself. Remember- it wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark. Keep your resume modern and up-to-date even when, actually especially when you are comfortable in your position. Not having a job creates a lot of stress and when we are stressed we do not always remember how talented and successful we really are.
I was also spending some time on Facebook yesterday while my daughter was sleeping and came across a "Branching Out" app or page or whatever it is. It is a way to do some professional networking on facebook. Again, it was really easy and guided me through a step-by-step process. Check it out.
I hope that if you are interested in developing your professional image and your visibility you will also consider the many online opportunities to do so. Start small like I did today- sign up for twitter, or facebook, or LinkedIn. You might even want to write your own blog. Whatever your cyber dreams include stop thinking about it and start doing it. Our greatest limitation is our own self-doubt. Here is to breaking down that wall and making things happen one brick at a time.
That's true. All sorts of searching techniques can be utilized nowadays, so people have a relatively easier time tracking someone in real life with their online accounts. Whether or not those accounts are linked to their real names or not, the email addressed used can be utilized to link someone with their real name -- thanks to their accounts in social media sites. I guess what's left to do is to always be cautious of our online reputation and take more proactive steps to manage it.
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