Hey, Personal Branding, I have something to tell you:
I don’t care.
I just don’t care anymore. You have prevented me from having fun for the last time.
I bought my URL domain and secured a couple of social media profiles. Your job is done, I’m moving on now.
Because really, all that you’ve ever really taught us is stuff we already knew. Did we really need someone telling us how to be authentic or respectful?
Don’t tell me about those drunk girls that upload their pics on Facebook for everyone to see, or about those employees that publicly say that they hate their job. In reality, the problem is those people are just being themselves. The problem isn’t, “You’re awesome but because of that photo of you peeing on a dog while getting high, the company decided to go another way.” You were a mess to begin with. Do you really go showing that picture to everyone you meet?
This is not Personal Branding; this is common sense.
The two most harmful consequences of Personal Branding:
1) It makes you afraid. Not only afraid to speak up, be confrontational and even curse, like everyone does offline, but it also makes you afraid of taking life into your own hands. Personal Branding bases most of its points on not upsetting potential contacts, your interviewer, your boss, or anyone else who will decide if you “live or die financially,” depending on what they find out about you online. To hell with that: authenticity means upsetting people. Only by disagreeing and even fighting others will you do something worth talking about.
This does not mean being scandalous, this means being human.
2) It has made us so calculated, that I wonder how many people are able to live up to their online personas. Meeting online contacts in the real world has been very disappointing in many cases. What’s interesting is that the people who haven’t played the personal branding game, have been amazingly fun, interesting and wise.
Sadly, with all this forced authenticity, people are actually becoming fake. That’s why we love those people who speak their mind without worrying about the scandal. We envy them because they don’t over-think the repercussions.
To be honest, I’ve never been as fake as when personal branding was my top concern.
My advice: Do whatever you want. Your intuition will take you through the best path for you.
The funny thing about intuition is that it’s magnetic. When you trust your gut, you attract people that like what you do, what you say and the way you think. You attract the people that you need, the people that will help you. Yes, you also upset those that don’t– deal with it. There’s no shining without conflict.
Once I started not worrying about the repercussion of every word I said online, I truly connected at an emotional level with others.
Once I embraced my personality, I strengthened the connections that mattered and cut ties with those that didn’t.
Once I stopped caring, I started to actually have fun with social media.
{ 10 trackbacks }
{ 79 comments… read them below or add one }
← Previous Comments
The problem isn’t, “You’re awesome but because of that photo of you peeing on a dog while getting high, the company decided to go another way.” You were a mess to begin with.
Amen.
We already talked about this before so you know my thoughts, but that line is exactly right. No sort of internet strategy is going to save you if you a douchebag. It doesn’t matter.
Just because online we can ‘hide’ what we suck at, or what makes us human, it still exists! If you built up this personal brand online, then you go into a meeting and are completely different, your personal brand is worth nothing.
Most personal brands are worth less than we think.
So where’s the picture of you peeing on the dog?
I totally agree, Carlos. The principles behind personal branding is what makes people lie in interviews hoping to give the employer the answer they want, only to find that if they do get hired, the employer doesn’t even like the “real” them. It’s easy to hide behind the online persona you’ve built, but you can only do that for so long.
It’s like someone trying to fit in in middle school or high school. They try so hard to fit in with the crowd that they want to be a part of that it’s overwhelming to the point that they can’t even handle living with the mask the put on every day.
So, quit the act. Be yourself. And have fun.
It’s on Facebook, but that’s why I keep my profile private!
One word: AGREED!
Preeeach PREEEACH!
Thanks for this post Carlos.
I don’t know why we call it personal branding. It’s just branding. It’s painting an image of yourself that you want to be perceived as.
True personal branding should be, being yourself, and that’s it…that’s your brand.
Personal branding the way we see it now is using a puppet. We’re all talking to each others puppets.
I’ve recently decided that I’m going to be as brutally honest as possible in this space. It may offend some. That’s alright, because if I offend some, then at least it’s real.
These kinds of personal branders might look like they’re winning now, but in the end they’ll look around them and realize that nothing they’ve created is real.
The only tough part I see is for those who work for a brand, and don’t want to upset people because they represent their brand and fear for their job security. Unless you have your own business, it can be hard to be 100% yourself in a professional setting.
David
Community Manager, Scribnia.com
@DavidSpinks
If you represent a brand through social media, then it’s not your brand, it’s not 100% personal. Businesses and personal approaches should be different.
I’ve struggled with prioritizing personal branding as well. As a recent college graduate and young PR professional, I’ve felt tremendous pressure to have a presence across social media, have a blog and be the one and only Becky Johns Google can find. When I push myself to build this online image, I become uninspired and it feels, somehow, fake.
Instead, I’ve built an amazing network of friends, colleagues and potential business contacts by being myself on Twitter, writing for my blog when I feel like it and putting my true personality forth on Facebook. I’m a firm believer in “what you see is what you get” and if who I am at my core is not what a company or client is looking for, then ultimately that business relationship is doomed to fail anyway. Call me old school, but I think it should be enough to live your life, be authentic online and let your life and career play out according to who you are at the core.
Smart decision. I like old school values more anyway. Something about tradition sounds good to me.
I like it, though i don’t necessarily agree that you shouldn’t put your best foot forward in most situations.
I also don’t agree that people who care about personal branding are being calculated. I care about personal branding, but if I wanted to be calculated about getting comments or followers or whatever the other metrics are, I could probably do a lot more.
As for that last conversation you had on your blog about this, where Jamie called out Matt as being unauthentic – clearly she’s not trying to maintain some “personal brand” – but that was pretty uncalled for, and really rubbed me the wrong way. As I read the comment, I honestly thought she was describing herself, not Matt, because I know Matt pretty well and he is actually sincere about his enthusiasm. I think a lot of people misjudge him because they aren’t like him, and don’t share his serious love of talking to people about anything, all day.
Maybe I’ve misjudged Jamie too because she’s not like me – in fact, I probably have – and maybe she is as authentic as she’s claiming. I’ve talked to her a few times over the phone and she seemed cool, online she doesn’t really, and the reality is probably that all of my interactions with her are still not enough to actually know her and make a judgement.
At the end of the day, I really wonder if you can know a person without meeting them. This online stuff is too sketchy – it’s easy to get misinterpreted and it’s easy to be fake. The hard part is sorting out who is genuine but misinterpreted and who is fake and calculated – I want to think most people are the former though.
We would need to clarify what putting our best forward really means.
Being calculated doesn’t always means getting comments or Twitter followers. It means doing only what people will like.
When they let their true personality shine through, you can get to know them a lot more. But, this is not what usually happens.
I think most people are the latter by the way. Conflict scares people.
That was an awesome post.
We shouldn’t be watering down every idea or creative impulse just so we can fit into a mold, or trying to meet somebody’s expectations (e.g. a future employee).
Perdón por el mal inglés, me acabo de dar cuenta del error. I meant employer.
Ningún problema Luis, a todos nos pasa!
OMG ~ Thank you!! At last, someone who not only “gets it,” but PROCLAIMS it! AMEN!!
I cant understand how you come up with the term “harmful” for Personal Branding consequences. I think you are in the range of 5% people who hate the term (not the process) of personal branding.
For me, I worry about the repercussion of every word I said online but truly I’m connected at an emotional level with others and I have online presence that wasn’t there before 1 year. Thanks to PB.
Anyway, I enjoined the post as it will help personal branding experts to touch some parts of the process that needs to be clear.
Thank You!
I assure you that it’s more than 5%. That’s what my statistics say.
I think you are identifying a select group of people who spend too much time on the “branding” aspect of social media. To them I’d simply say: If you look at yourself purely as a “brand” it’s safe to assume most people won’t enjoy you as a “person”
I don’t think it’s that select. The thing is not everyone talks about their dislike with the concept.
But I do agree on the brand/persona distinction.
Interesting perspective. It’s funny because when “personal branding” became a hot buzzword, it’s like everyone forgot that the “rules of personal branding” were things that many people were already doing, by way of common sense.
If you’re looking for a job in communications or social media (like me), getting your name heard in the digital space is a given. Those looking for jobs in these fields should be in the digital space because it’s what they’re interested in anyway, not because they think it will make them look good. I never post something just to look good to my online followers. I read blog posts all the time that I think are completely uninspiring and then see 10 people comment saying “This is so great. Your ideas are so innovative and thought provoking. Blah Blah.” And then I think to myself, really? Some people are so interested in fitting in with a certain online crowd that they’re willing to say anything. Of course, everyone likes different things and these people could actually find the post to be awesome, but I don’t think this is always the case.
The things I do and write are my real-life ideas and reflect my personality. I’m not going to slap an “I love this” comment on a crappy blog post just because I think people will see it. When I interact online, I do have to consider my job search because it’s a big part of my life right now. But I don’t think this makes me fake or inauthentic in the least.
Again, very interesting post.
@abschoff
I think that’s ok Abby, the problem is I see everyone acting as if they were looking for a job.
I love this post, because it challenges a lot of what I’ve been writing about lately. I have to agree, just be yourself–if you’re a douche in real life, that will shine through–you can’t teach “authenticity.” It’s the way things roll.
However, I don’t believe that it’s a topic that we can brush off with a swoosh of “be yourself, you’ll be fine.” The fact is, a lot of people aren’t fine. They need to be concerned with their online repuation because a boss, an insurance company, a professor, a lawyer, etc. can Google you and find out who the online world says you are.
There have been enough cases where this has happened with dire consequences. Yes, the person was probably an idiot. But still, have the awareness to not be an idiot online if you hope to be in anyway professionally employed. That goes without saying.
But let’s face it–the whole world isn’t us. They’re not all tech-savvy, young professionals. A lot of my clients have no clue how to navigate the online landscape. They need a tip or two. I don’t think there’s any shame in teaching someone personal branding, but don’t pretend it’s not something they couldn’t figure out by themselves given time. My goal isn’t to create a “persona” it’s to teach clients how to communicate properly via social media. It’s not about being fake, it’s about educating them. What they do with it is up to them.
And I don’t think “conflict” is the answer. You’re more real because you can hold an argument online? I’m all for discussion and challenge–how else do we grow? But just because you curse or offend someone with your opinion doesn’t mean you’re being real either. Unless that’s really how you are in real life…I guess.
After reading your comment, and many others from people who “defend” personal branding, I think I’m going to reply to all of you on a separate post. I think you’re right on some things, but the problem comes before that.
Thank you Carlos for writing this post.
When I started getting into the social media scene a few months ago, I too felt a little awkward. I’m very outgoing in person, very “sociable” in person (as many people will tell you), but found I was trying too hard to try and be someone I’m not online.
I also found it very disheartening that the “social media experts” and “personal branding experts” online were very different people in person. You said it best:
“What’s interesting is that the people who haven’t played the personal branding game, have been amazingly fun, interesting and wise.”
Keep it up!
It’s disheartening to meet experts.
A friendly anarchist thinking: “True words. Common sense and intuition absolutely will do.”
A marketer thinking: “Hmm, are you serious or is upsetting people just part of your personal branding strategy?”
To the marketer: I point out things that I don’t like on my blog. That’s all I do. If it upsets people, that’s their problem.
To the anarchist: Yes.
Right on!!
All this social media jargon is really starting to piss me off. It’s lame, to be blunt. It reminds me of corporate buzz words, like ‘thinking outside of the box.’ or ’synergize.’ They’re all just stupid ways of rehashing common sense that we should already know.
Be a good person.
Be true to yourself.
Respect others.
Help Others.
DONE – Seacrest out.
Spread the word, buddy.
Interesting perspective. I agree to be true to yourself. The problem I had 2 years ago when I decided to establish my personal brand was that I should focus. No branding works without focus, and I had so much different interests. Once I found the one focus that combines them all, it worked and it works. And this, without limiting myself or posting untrue picture of my real me.
If it works for you, great. The reason why there’s a lot of bitching about this is because it does not work for many people.
Great post. This just echoes what I’ve been thinking every time I see an “Everything you need to know about social media you learned in xxxx” article. Everything we need to know about social media and personal branding (lowercase) we already know. It is common sense. If you do want to manage your online self-portrayal, just be aware that the online version of you is hyper-condensed, and people only see a fraction of who you are. So simply think before you post.
Best comment, thanks David.
Dude, love the way you speak your mind.
It’s tricky; it seems that even when you are able to mentally free yourself from whatever obligation–be it the rules of personal branding, whether or not you decide to participate in the whole kiss-ass social media scene, or whether you decide to participate in real-life social rules, based on what you determine is valid or not–the rest of the world still judges you based on it. So while you’re liberating yourself, you’re simultaneously screwing yourself, in some cases. I’ve recently been feeling like that regarding my master’s degree; I’ve been missing classes I don’t deem relevant, or important, and have gone down a path of electing to choose what I learn, versus being told what I need to learn by some arbitrary bald guy who doesn’t know me or my goals, nor gives a shit. So, on one hand, I’m feeling pretty bad ass about it…yet on the other I know at some point I will face the consequences, probably in the form of a bad grade, or the refusal to write a recommendation that some OTHER idiot requires.
Would be interested to hear your thoughts on this?
Same advice: follow your intuition. The “consequences” part is usually determined by others, and they always exist. No matter what you do, you’re always gaining something and losing something else. Thinking about it won’t help.
The world will always judge you. Tell the world to go to hell, and those that like you will come.
Like the post that stirs the pot Carols. And yes, be authentic, be yourself. That’s the best brand that anyone can be. But that said, how many people actually take the time to figure out who the heck they actually are and who they stand for. Most of the BIG personal brand leaders out there on the social web, got to where they are with years of definition and experimentation. That’s cool, but do you think it’s possible to find a better more time efficient way to get there?
Whether it’s company brands, human brands, product brands, whatever – those who focus on even the list bit of strategy behind their efforts will blow past those who don’t. I’m not saying that people need to spend tons and tons of effort being self-analytical, but a little self analysis and clear decisions as a foundation helps a ton of the people I work with.
Do you agree or disagree with building a strategy behind the core elements of your personality that make up your personal brand?
This is great. I agree Nate, this much: http://www.owlsparks.com/questions/core-questions/
The thing is that that’s a different problem. I’ve taken the time with myself to see what matters. And I still don’t like the whole PB thing. But yes, people should focus first on understanding themselves.
This is an excellent post. However, while I think the term “personal branding” has been defined in a way that has resulted in a somewhat of a calculated and insincere effort, I do think that conceptually the idea is important. But I think we need to stop asking ourselves what people think of us, and start asking ourselves who we want to become.
Several months ago, I heard a presentation from someone who was leaving their position after several years. He said that at each place you go, you leave an impression. You will the “the something guy/girl”. That was the guy that changed our hiring strategies. Or that was the guy who always blew off and left early. Or that was the girl who was always willing to put in the time to make sure the details were solid. We are constantly defined by our actions and comments. This is our personal brand: the personal recommendations that come from past employers and coworkers, those we have volunteered with, those we have interacted with socially, whether online or offline. Each time you respond or act, you are defining who you are. Quick to anger? Quick to laugh at a mistake and move on? Willing to listen to other people? Always consumed with your own stuff? Detail oriented? Organized? Dedicated?
I think we each need to consider what we say and how we act not because it will get us better jobs or more subscribers, or some other perceived benefit, but because it matters who we are and what we are becoming.
Anyway, that presentation has made me think a lot about that in the last few months and this post reminded me how powerful that comment was to me at the time: that it is more important to me who I am and what I am becoming than what someone else perceives of me.
I agree Rachel. That’s why I liked Nate’s comment above. Because what matters is who we are and where we are going. But the problem is not everyone has seen that presentation, and not everyone has taken the time to understand themselves. We fall for perception way too often.
Hey Carlos, good post, but I’m thinking what we have here is a misrepresentation of what Personal Branding is (and I think most of us hate the version you’re talking about).
And really it’s not you doing the misrepresenting. To most people, Personal Branding is choosing the most publicly acceptable path and shaving off the rough edges from your life to fit that mold. This way you will be the least offensive to the largest number of people and get the girl, get the money, get the corner office, etc etc etc.
I’m a big proponent of personal branding, and the above situation sounds absolutely horrid to me. Why anyone would want to reject their own personality (and think that doing so would help them succeed!) is beyond me, and I think it’s important to get the ledger straight on this issue.
Personal Branding (as I define it, at least), is the practice of taking your best and most prominent attributes and accentuating them so that people who don’t have the chance to really get to know you on an intimate and deeply personal level will still get the gist of what you are all about.
Think of it like any other brand; Doritos don’t try really hard to be the ultimate snack cracker, cookie or spreadable butter. They are a pseudo-tortilla chip covered with cheese powder and that’s how they promote themselves: as DORITOS, not as a chip loved by all.
What it comes down to is knowing you have a market and embracing that fact. It’s the insecure folks who look at personal branding as treat it as a way to be everything to everyone (which in turn waters down everything they are and do, making them nothing to anyone) when they should be taking a good long look at themselves, figuring out what it is that makes them tick, and them emphasizing those attributes.
Bing bang boom. Personal Brand.
No need to be scared, but definitely don’t be disingenuous, because as many people here (including Carlos) has said, everyone will see right through you and not like what they see.
I like your idea of Personal Brand a lot more, I want to be clear on that.
So, my real reply is going to come in the form of another post. Stay tuned.
I am old. And your post triggered me. You have a great idea!
As I learn, study, and view all these tenets of web 2.0 and social media I have experienced the “afraid” you talk about. Placing any ideas, including “personal branding” in the context of “right and wrong” is usually a big trap. I often get the feel of being told “right and wrong” ways to do things in this still new field. We all need 15 possible ways, and 1500 possible ideas. So, get more than 2 options. Come from possibility. Value diversity of ideas. And choose whats right for you and your integrity.
Having said that, influential people will often be “right and wrong” types. And THAT, is neither right nor wrong. So you have to call your shots.
Integrity, respect and intuition is more than enough. right are wrong are irrelevant.
Thank you Mike.
Though it’s been said in many comments above, I can’t agree enough. I almost think it’s not right to put up a professional front 100 percent of the time. Of course, there’s a time and a place to be a little bit more laid back with colleagues, but when your personality isn’t there, you’re just another number. Thanks for pointing this out!
And it’s not right. I want the laid back people. Heck, that’s the people I’m gonna hire eventually.
FUCK. Yes. That is all. Ok, no it’s not – this is fantastic.
If you say fuck you won’t make any money ever and die poor.
This is a great post, Carlos, and I agree with a majority of the comments. I think particularly Rachel and Colin articulate their viewpoints well and I see myself agreeing with both of them. However, honestly, I feel tired and worn out from this talk. It’s already been said, but I agree that the idea behind personal branding has gotten so lost in the brand aspect that people forget about it being personal. PERSONAL. Honesty, intregrity, treating others how we want to be treated, not because of how it will affect your brand but because that’s a basic.
I approach people assuming they are the same online as they are off (with different levels of themselves, of course — I’ve expressed my opinion on that before) but believe the essence of the person is there, can be seen even through this technology. For better or for worse, I don’t want a persona. I want you. I want the person, not the brand. Be who you are. Not everyone is going to like you — a really tough lesson to be learned — but loving yourself is the first step. You have to live with yourself, after all.
It does get tiring, amen to that.
Sadly, I can assure you Susan that the personality that one can put online is very easy to manipulate, so I’m skeptic by nature.
I get so many comments from people who are all, “I wish I could be as open and honest as you on my blog!” And I’m like… “Um, then do it?” I mean, I understand why people choose not to share certain things, use certain language, etc. but I completely agree with you that personal branding for the sake of personal branding is bullshit.
My favorite compliment is when I meet people offline and they’re all, “you’re exactly like you are on your blog!” because it’s like, yes, transparency FTW!
It’s all about insecurities. Look at Nate’s comment above. I think people should know themselves like you do.
Great article! people are too damn uptight these days.
The last 3 sentences sum it all up… well said… good post… wish more people would understand this
Awesome =)
Figured this out a while ago, but people still look at me cock eyed when I tell them I don’t give a shit.
For me the big realization came when I designed my personal website and it was a super generic portfolio made to be “acceptable” by anyone.
In reality, if someone doesn’t like the me they learn about on my portfolio, they aren’t going to like me in real life either. It just saves me the time of interviewing for a job with them.
That’s another good point that people don’t consider: time wasting.
Why would you want to be awesome to everyone if once you actually do get together you won’t be a fit?
THANK YOU FOR THIS POST. Amen, I agree 100% When I was first looking for a job, I kept reading articles about personal branding and felt like it was being shoved down my throat. I always rejected the idea because I felt like people were telling me to manipulate the image I was putting out there. At the end of the day, people are going to hire you- not your “personal brand.” And your personal brand should just be another name for your personality.
We are focusing too much on selling instead of charming.
This is an awesome post!
Although I do think there is a need to maintain some level of professionalism, I agree that doesn’t mean abandoning who you are. Personal branding, as is any branding should always be about truth. It should represent the true essence of the product without fluff and in this case the product is you. You are who you are and although a compromising picture may cost you a job, so will a fake online persona.
@charlottehrb
@SMMKSC
Professionalism also needs to be maintained in ral life, no need to make an online distinction.
The douche will out.
I talk to job-hunters about personal branding from time to time – my focus, however, is on discovering who you are and why you matter, not how to become someone else and create some fake persona. That’s pretty much the same approach as going on a three day bender, after which you buy an entire new wardrobe and re-appear, expecting huzzahs…yet leaving out an important interim step, bathing.
The key to branding – personal or corporate – is truth. Truly stating who you are, and why you matter. First you have to BE that, then you can tell the story. Spinning a tale out of whole cloth is the path to douchery.
@MightyCasey
@CancerForXmas
Like I told Colin Wright above, I like this approach better, but I will reply to all of you on a separate post
Excellent post. I think it’s worth mentioning however the distinction between “personal branding” and “reputation management” (another buzzword to get you all going). Reputation management is the drunk girl on Facebook. Personal branding, as you mention Carlos, demonstrates that you care enough to ADD VALUE. There’s a distinction.
In addition. There are many “personal brands” that do not have an individual’s name or real photo, but have a distinct, smart personality. Other personal brands that are real people just RT what others say. Is this branding? Nope.
Keep being fearless Carlos.
There’s nothing to fear, really, except your own personality if you can’t control it.
I wish I had more time to write something other than — this is great!
The biggest issue I have with personal branding via social media is that people have decided the “branding” part is more important than the “personal” part.
I always hope that when people meet me in person, they feel like they are seeing a 3-D version of who I am online. I don’t care if people agree with me, online or in person. I do care that they respect that I have an opinion, understand that I respect their opinion, and will stand arm-in-arm with them to fight for the right for us to continue to express those opinions freely.
That’s my brand, and I take it personally.
Look above for Susan Pogorzelski, a dear friend. You two would get along
Like it or not, we all brand ourselves every day. Very few people are the same person in public as they are in private. If you’ve ever waited until you’re alone to pick your nose, you’ve engaged in personal branding.
Professionalism, education and decency have nothing to do with personal branding. If so, the term is even more obsolete.
Good stuff! I think if you’re “cool” enough to own up to everything you do, you automatically “brand” yourself. People will see you how they want to and we do things on a daily basis that simply reaffirm their thoughts on who were are and what our identity is. Think about it: “Oh, Kate? Yeah she’s that pageant girl who writes for PR Breakfast Club and works in CT.” Probably not everyone’s first thoughts, but just tossing it out there. Whether we try to or not, we are labeled. It’s what we do in this society. Really great points – love it.
That’s their label. You don’t have to label yourself, always remember that labels are limits.
Let your capacity limit you, not people’s opinions.
I’ve been thinking about what you’ve said in this post for awhile. It’s so silly to always try to be on your “best behavior” while being online. It’s not human and its just not fun either.
Glad that you said what everyone is thinking!
This post really resonated with me. I had some concerns when people I had worked with somehow became my ‘friends’ on Facebook (I immediately thought of an alternative, inappropriate FB where you could post status updates that, well, maybe you don’t want EVERYONE to know!) so I started with the ’shiny happy people’ posts or nothing at all. I have adjusted. I use FB quite differently than twitter, for example, where I like to share information, write haiku and be more inappropriate (since I don’t try to seek people out who know me but am interested in this collective consciousness thing).
I think I came to the same conclusion, rather quickly, possibly because I am getting older (Gen-X here) and just don’t give a *#$t what some people think about me like I once did when I felt like I had some control over how my life was perceived by outsiders — I mean, it’s really none of my business. I don’t want to know. So, yes, then I started my blogs and this is exactly what I found out: “Did we really need someone telling us how to be authentic or respectful?”
So then, just like you said, with the blogging, I started reading all those damn blogs about blogging and how to ‘brand’ myself — I pretty much figured I already have done that, but I wasn’t sure if I’d given it a good enough name. So, after some speculation, anxiety and fear of failure, once again, I just decided to express my thoughts {and sometimes would edit in a moment of buyer’s remorse). I write in many genres so I needed a way to express that — my socio-political point of view in quasi-loosey-goosey form; my track record of making my way in a career that is always challenging (I work in television as a creative type); and my third, my poems, musings and morning pages.
I realized today I may have pissed people off in a post but it was one of my most honest efforts.
“Sadly, with all this forced authenticity, people are actually becoming fake.” Luckily, I’ve never known how to do that, so I got off easy on that front.
So thanks for the encouragement. I like your writing. I am so happy to find writers out there — it helps me write better, or so I hope.
I agree with that. You don’t believe me??? Ok, enter in my Facebook, click my videos and you see your idea in its maximum exponent.
Now really, I like how you put a good idea in a small space.
Now that I’m free to write on the internet I have to say … without fear…
The backstreet boy rocks!!!!!!
Abrazo charles!!!
What I see happening with what we say online. Keep in mind these are generally speaking there are plenty of exceptions and the ages may be off some years but hopefully the message gets across.
Age 65+ say do not put anything online about yourself.
Age 45 to 65 say be very careful about what is placed online. (Listening to elders)
Age 25 to 45 Careful but placing enough online to build social profile (Listening to elders but understand the value of building a online profile) This is where I am at.
Age 15 to 25 Placing anything and everything online (Going to kick their self in the ass because it may effect their future)
What will happen? Those age 15 to 25 now will be telling those younger to be very careful what is placed online and the cycle will continue.
At the end of the day post what you want but do realize, what you post becomes part of how some will remember you.
This is great, and really true. People are so paranoid sometimes about what they put online, that they forget to just be themselves–or, like you said, they are themselves, but that’s not exactly desirable. People aren’t brands, and trying to combine the two just can’t end well.
Hilarious. Very well said, and kudos to you for so eloquently stating your case. This made my day!
Actually. I think that what you are saying is exactly what web 3.0 will be.People being real. I definitely see all the nicey nicey, smiley face garbage becoming a very undesirable trait to have online pretty soon.
My 2c
Great Post btw.
Colin has it nailed on this one. The social media echo chamber’s definition of “personal branding” gets hung-up on notions of manufacturing facades. With that limitation, it’s bound to be stillborn. I think the metaphorical visual conflation springs in part from a general misconception that regular branding is all about a logos, letterheads, and colors.
*Any time a conversation has shifted to real/fake, it is no longer a conversation about branding.
Design is not branding™. Building an online superhero costume or rockstar outfit is not personal branding.
Another problem for those wishing to opt out of personal branding… Sorry! You can’t. Corporations can’t. Individuals can’t. Branding happens in the minds of others at every point in any interaction whether you want it to or not. The only real question is whether we leave that process up to chance, or try to make sure our image is an accurate reflection of ourselves.
I’m interested to see your follow-up post.
There’s something else going on with the dog urination issue as well. Our society (like many others) in fact promotes contradictory values, and this confuses a lot of people. The values of celebrity suggest that you might gain a world-wide following in an online video of you doing something totally compromising. So people go with that, that sounds pretty good, especially if you are young, utterly fascinated with yourself, etc. The values of the work world suggest, among other things, that propriety is important. Oops.
In fact we live in a society that is fanatically devoted to work and play simultaneously, it’s no wonder people get confused.