10 Things You’re Doing On Social Media

That's Hurting Your Personal Brand

By Marietta Gentles Crawford

#1: You have no idea what shows up in

search results when you’re Googled

#2: You have a public

Facebook profile and your life

is an open book (even a stalker

would get bored due to the lack

of a chase)

#3: You have an inappropriate

LinkedIn profile picture, such as a

selfie where you’re dressed in

business gear with a granite bathroom

countertop, towel, and mirrored

shower in the background

#4: You leave no stone unturned with

offensive comments and controversial

opinions, making many people grateful

for “hide” and “unfollow” options

#5: You validate how much hate

your job and manager by

constant postings about how

much you hate your job and

manager—surprise, the cat is out

the see-through bag

#6: Your Twitter profile resembles

one of a teenager, since you only

follow celebrities and no

professional public figures or career

interests

#7: You use LinkedIn like it is Facebook by

posting random meaningless status updates

and shamelessly plug that you’re looking for

a new job in every group you’ve joined (by

the way, that’s not considered networking)

#8: Your Facebook and Twitter profiles

include so much pictures of you drinking and

partying there is an intervention with your

name on it being staged at this very moment

#9: Your posts include

language that would make

even a sailor blush

#10: You tweet so much that you

don't know how to communicate

using more than 140 characters

and completely spelling out

words

So, Now What?

So, Now What?

Simple fixes such as changing your

social media privacy settings,

controlling posts that you are tagged

in, and deleting inappropriate photos

can improve your online identity

Be Conscious of Your Personal Brand

If you have negative information that comes up in

a Google search, try adding positive information

that will push it further back on search pages

Create your own web domain, be active on

LinkedIn, and share professional blog posts

Be conscious of the things you post on social

media as well as what others may post about you.

Understand that each picture, post, or comment,

can potentially end up in Google search results

Be Conscious of Your Personal Brand

Make sure that you send the right impression

about your brand to anyone that happens to

come across your name online. Unlike Vegas,

what happens on social media doesn’t always

stay on social media

If there’s something that you wouldn’t want a

potential business connection to see, don’t

put it out there to be found

By Marietta Gentles Crawford