Social Media and Transparency

Social Media and Transparency The increasing online presence ofmillions of people utilizing social media is resulting in a transparency not everyone is comfortable with.The transition fromcontent consumers to content producers and the vast amount of information being sharedis eliminating the choice ofmaintaining a private, personal profile separately from a public, professional profile.Of course there are still those who willdisagree with mebut take note because this is a trend that will eventually expose even you. If you have been tagged in a photo, you understand thatyou didntpost the photo of yourself online,someone else did. Withoutcontrol overthe content that is being produced it is actually in your best interest to generate and manage your own online information. Of course you can make every effort toresist a public profile but the natural presumption will be that you have something to hide resulting in a lack of trust and credibility. Internet use and social media continue to evolve as weleave behind an industrial era thatpresented the need to establisha separate work life fromour personal life. Recognition and reparationhaveresulted in a gradual return toa healthy work/life balanceand at the same time, social mediahas providedthe platform for connecting people and business.This online merge ofpersonal andprofessional profiles will beastruggle for many butthe resulting transparencywill presentthe ability to determine credibility. David Houle, Futurist, predicted and refers to this era asThe Transformation Decade. In the past, many companiessuccessfully marketed themselves without a personal presenceleaving many unsuspecting customers at a lossto follow up withunsatisfactory products or services. Social media has provided a venue for sharing information and the potential to generate global awareness making it more difficultto maintain a low profile. Soon,there will be nowhere to hide from the mostpowerful influence in our society, word of mouth. Separate entities or brands are becoming less acceptable and in order to validate your integrity and credibility or that of your business,acommitment to visibly stand behind your personal reputation,product or service will be necessary if you wish to succeed. Finally, when Facebook launched in 2004 many thought of it as solely ayouth based, social network.As with many things, especially social media, changes and growth have beenastounding but still many perceptions todayare based onoutdated and unfounded facts.If the significance of thechanges and growthhave notbeen recognized,the following article and stats will be of interest.After meeting Mark Zuckerberg at a Facebook event in May, 2007, Paul Allen, Internet Entrepreneur wrote, Prediction: Facebook will be thelargest social network in the world.He sums it up with, Marks philosophy of openness is an open invitation to co-create something remarkable with him and his 24 million users.It has been three years andFacebook now has 500 million users!To put this number in perspective, theUnited States has a population of 309 million andCanadas population is 34 million. Only two counties in the world have a larger population than Facebook, India and China. Still think its just for kids and games ? For further information on developing your online profile contact Elite Resumes.