Thing 3- Online Presence

Online Name

I blog and tweet with my full name, although uncreative it does mean that by doing a quick google search, you can find my LinkedIn account, my Twitter account and my Blogger account, (plus a little more from a past-life). The benefit of this is that the platforms I use to present my professional identity are consolidated and really easy to find. On the other hand, it means I have to be careful about balancing the professional and the personal as this doesn't allow for much separation between the two.

Photograph

I envy those with 'head shot' photographs on their blogs. Not being the most photogenic lady around ( think Chandler in that episode of friends) I thought hard about whether to put a photo on my blog and then which one to use. I ended up deciding on my current work ID photo! Nice and simple and its up to date. It has come in handy, especially meeting other trainees at library events as it makes your blog memorable and makes you more recognisable, which it turn makes it easier for lots of lovely, interesting people to talk to you.

Professional/personal identity 

I use Facebook for catching up with friends and family, in a personal capacity. Apart from Facebook, which I use very little now anyway, the majority of my online presence is in a professional capacity. 

I set up Twitter for networking, keeping updated with news and following interesting people (mainly information professionals). However, I don't censor my Twitter usage to be purely 'professional'. The people and organisations I follow reflect my personality as a whole. I think it's beneficial to have a balance between the two and I think it makes you seem more approachable as an individual. I think I've found a balance that feels natural to me. I set up my blog to document my graduate traineeship, so from the from the outset it was a professional blog. I'd like to set up an additional blog where I can muse endlessly about cooking and health and all the other things that fill my head; but perhaps another day.

Visual brand 

Although I like playing around with my blog and tweaking the aesthetics, the design is a customised template at present and I'd really like to do some more work on making it more distinguishable and unique. My twitter profile doesn't look vaguely similar to my blog, so I definitely think more consistency would be a good thing. This is something I would like to work on over the coming months.

So, I Googled myself (not the first time either, sorry) and the top seven results refer to me personally. Downfall/benefit to having an unusual name. There is nothing I wouldn't want a potential employer etc. to see, apart from a few embarrassingly young photographs of me which I would rather were not there. This 'thing' has made me much more aware of the impact that branding and online presence can have and I will certainly taking this awareness with me in to the future!