Are you sending mixed signals about who you are? One of the problematic beauties of the Internet is the ability to define yourself in multiple ways. People often use multiple personas on social sites such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter to define themselves in multiple ways. The problem comes in because the nature of the Internet is to link things together. In some ways, it is fantastic that you can post in one place and automatically have the post repeated in others, but it can end in disaster. When convenience leads to complacency and you make a post about your exploits during a night out with friends that also posts to the very serious persona you were hoping would land you your dream job, you may discover that you have earned a merit badge in podiatric marksmanship.
Not only might such a faux pas cause you problems, think about the cognitive dissonance (aka brain buzz) mixed signals can cause for those who give you the gift of their attention. Just as you would behave differently in face to face situations depending on who was present, it is important to manage your multiple on-line personas and the communication that flows through them so that the content and tone is appropriate to the people with whom you are interacting. You might think of each on-line persona as having a specific style of dress. Shorts and a t-shirt on Facebook. Business cas’ or better on LinkedIn. Twitter? Definitely tie dye and faded jeans.
Enjoy being virtually anyone you want to be, but please avoid the cyber crudity of sending mixed signals.
