How To Stay Professional On Facebook

This article provides information on How To Stay Professional On Facebook

A lot is being said today about the value of social networking online-through sites like Facebook, Myspace, and LinkedIn. If you are like most, you have one or multiple accounts on these sites for both personal and professional use; but do you know how to approach the personal vs professional people in your contacts without offending the other? Trying to separate one from the other for professional gain is a subject of common concern for many people with social media sites, as they just don’t know what the etiquette is or how to handle it all. Here are the tips to adhere to, if you are wondering just this:

Filters
The first term you should be familiar with if you have a social networking account is filter. A filter is a way to separate which of your contacts see what. So, for example, do you want your work colleague to see drunken pics of you from last New Year’s Eve? Probably not. This said, learn all you can about separating who sees what, to avoid your professional contacts from discrediting your image through too much unprofessional information.

Requests
There are some “friends” on social networking sites that you should just wait to be asked by-in particular: your work supervisors. Try not to make this area of contact uncomfortable-as soliciting your boss to be linked to you in this way could make things unprofessional and uncomfortable. Even if you believe you have a good repoir with your boss, wait for them to initiate this out of work networking with you.

Think Before Your Click
When it comes to a profile on a social networking site, make sure to think before you post how you are feeling after a long day. Why? Because the last thing you want is expletives and unprofessional conduct coming up for all to see-including those who can influence your career. Though it is unfortunate that you cannot just post as freely as your personal friends on one of these sites, it is always better to be safe than sorry-as anything online can be viewed, and this viewing can greatly and immediately affect your career. If you need to vent online, email a friend or many; and get all the potentially dangerous ranting out there.

Online Reputation
Know that whatever you write online speaks to your online reputation, and can often not just be seen by your colleagues; but also, if the profile is public-can be searchable by the search engines. This means not just checking on what you write yourself, but also making sure that your contacts do not write anything incriminating either. You do this by constantly monitoring your online reputation, and also rebuking your personal friends from inappropriate postings or ones that could discredit you when necessary.