“To be or not to be?” This is the question…

One thing I thoroughly enjoy about LinkedIn is the ability to observe what works with respect to networking and what doesn’t.  LinkedIn is very similar to life; people with original ideas, thoughts and comments get noticed, people seek them out and they are highly interesting.

More often than not I observe people sitting back being “Observers” or “re-posters”  and for those folks I wonder if there is as much true value in social media as we are led to believe; or worse- for the “re-posters” of the world – is social media doing more harm than good?

This concept is so important to discuss with students and recent graduates.  If you are at an Institution that promotes the use of social media as a way to establish a personal brand – make sure that your instructions include the message that the key to “personal branding” is the “PERSONAL” part.

When writing these blogs or when speaking at a convention, I often think “I wonder if this is too frank” or “I wonder if this will strike a wrong nerve”?  Ultimately, I believe that my frankness and willingness to put it all out there are part of my personal brand so I do it; more often than not- it’s a brand that is working. In other-words, I believe it the value of shaking it up a bit to elicit a response. (PS- You have to be willing to deal with the response!)

The same should be true for your students, while the passing along of information is widely appreciated it’s equally important for them to establish their “you brand” by sometimes posting narrative that comes from their heart or imagination.