Social networks are growing. Even your Mom knows what Twitter is. The time people spend online is growing and increasingly they also interact there as well. You may have clients and customers which have never interacted with your company in person, only through a website or social network. All this means that your online reputation can have an effect on your brand and company.
You’re on the social networks: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc. and you’re interacting with customers and building relationships. Awesome! You’re bored one day and you start taking all sorts of quizes on Facebook that post to everyone. You also take a few quizzes on Twitter and ask your followers to join your Mafia family or you send someone a peace sign and ask them to return the favor. No big deal right? You’re being transparent and you’re having fun.
Hmm. There’s transparency and then there’s TMI (too much information). Your business contacts may want to build a relationship with you, but they don’t really need to know that your dog puked all over the floor or your aunt had an affair with her dentist – that’s TMI.
Remember that what you do online does influence the reputation you have offline. Sharing a bit about what you did over the weekend is one thing (if it’s something that you would discuss in person), but don’t get carried away. (It may help to think about whether you would say whatever it is in person to a client).
So, take a moment and think about what you’re doing online and whether you’d be ok with doing it in person with a client. If not, make sure you keep it reserved for more private circles.
(photo by mariana.maia @ FlickrCC)
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