Feeling Schizophrenic in the Digital World
We fragment who we are everyday. Linguists call it code-switching. The same process that enables you to decide not to cuss at your grandmother but to feel free to throw out a couple of “f-bombs” while watching the game with friends is the same process that can allow you to decide what version of your identity is most powerfully presented online. I’m not suggesting that you be deceptive, by any means. Merely that you shape your digital identity carefully, especially when it comes to business.
It’s all about audience. Who do you hope to attract to your work? What aspects of you will be most desirable? This goes way beyond a resume, folks. In a resume you can’t list all the people you know, you can’t claim the power of being someone who is enthusiastic and engaging. In a blog, website, or social networking space you can do all these things and more. Online, through the web of self-representation, you can knit together an ethos for yourself that goes far beyond your skill set and work history. Creating a digital personality is a tricky thing. Text, and even images, can be easily misinterpreted. Others may not see you the same way you think you’ve represented yourself. A website that you think is funny may be perceived as snarky by someone else.
So here’s today’s assignment: Conduct an ego search. Go to Google and whatever blog search engine you prefer and do a search on your 1) real name, 2) blog title or website title, and 3) your most commonly used screen name. See what kind of picture the findings paint of you. Is it the picture you’re sending or is it warped?
Control your own digital ethos.
9 February 2007 | Uncategorized, Intellagirl, ethos, self-promotion | Comments
Navigation
Pages
- About
- C.C. Chapman
- Daniel Livingstone
- Mark Bell
- Mitch Maxson
- Ryan Hupfer
- Sarah "Intellagirl" Robbins
Categories
- Uncategorized
- News
- Opinion
- Intellagirl
- Ryan Hupfer
- Mark Bell
- ethos
- Mitch Maxson
- academia
- self-promotion
- mobile
- networking
- Planning
- blogs
- success
- Good deeds
Archives
Meta
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Jan | Mar » | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | ||||
Copyright 2006 You.
2 Responses to “Feeling Schizophrenic in the Digital World”
1 Daniel Livingstone 20 February 2007 @ 3:12 pm
My funniest experience ego searching was some years ago. There was a teen somewhere in the States who had a blog entry (now long gone) which came up in Google as “I hate Daniel Livingstone so much…”.
Luckily it was some other Daniel Livingstone
:)
2 Dan Seamans 21 February 2007 @ 9:06 am
Funnily enough it was my Dad that did this for the whole family before we even had the idea!
Turns out I’m most notable for being a bass player (that would be a different incarnation of me). Neither as Dan or Daniel do I appear anywhere near the top on Google.
My alter-ego Woop Superior does far better, with the top 6 or so responses on Google hitting their target.
So, my SL self is more noteworthy than my RL self. Hmm. Questions need to be asked there.