Pseudonym
In my book, that will always be one of my favorite words, and I think it will increasingly become social media users favorite as well.
Let’s face it – we’re all a little worried about potential business contacts seeing our score from mafia wars or those Saturday night “I only had one drink” photos.
The solution? Pseudonym.
If you already have a nickname, you’re halfway there. Create public profiles under your nickname and friend only your friends. The tough part will be un-friending your friends from your professional profile, but at this point they should already be part of your “exclusive” personal profile. And if they’re not, well, maybe you’re not all that close afterall… Some friends you may want to keep in your professional profile as they can be your “personal brand ambassadors” (more on them below).
Now, you have two profiles and can relentlessly use them for their purpose. You’ll find that you’re more likely to friend that geeky club, post the news article on your field of interest and best of all, when your friends tag you, they’ll be tagging your pseudonym. When you play those internet games, fill out surveys on they type of person you’ll marry or do whatever else is thought up to entertain us through our work days, your activity will be under your personal profile, free from scrutiny of your nosy coworker.
Best of all, you can focus on using your professional profile for personal branding. Updating your network on your activities, business ventures, related news, special offers, publications, and etc. And, now that your friends in your professional profile are genuinely interested in your professional ventures, they will be all the more likely to share your posts, acting as your personal brand ambassadors. Hello free marketing.
If all of this doesn’t motivate you, just think, having both personal and professional accounts can also be a public service action. You could be aiding in decluttering your coworkers news stream all while maintaining privacy.
So go have fun finding your pseudonym and be sure to add me to your list of professional friends.
-Nicole Hess
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