I am a member of Facebook; however, I joined only to learn about Facebook when it was first introduced in connection with my job at the time, and was active on it for only one period of time because of a project due for a previous class I took with our professor. So I am currently not using Facebook. I am on the social networking site, LinkedIn, so I will write about that.
I am obviously not doing a good job in presenting myself on LinkedIn. I only have the barest of information in my profile. Since LinkedIn is a social network that I joined to advance myself professionally, I should make the time to update my profile because I want people to have a good impression of me both as a person and as a professional in my field. So far, the only people who have asked to join my network are people I know, job recruiters, and a few random people whom I have no idea of why they asked to join my network.
The only person who I accepted into my network and realized I should not have is someone who used LinkedIn to make posts that were appropriate for Facebook, but not LinkedIn. I gave her a couple of weeks of access and then took her off my network. I did not think her social postings were what I wanted other professionals to see as related to me.
Although, I am on Facebook, which is more informal than Linkden I find some comments on my wall in Facebook embarrassing and inappropriate in the same way as you find the postings by your contact unfit for a formal networking website. Others build an image about you based on the content on your wall, and you cannot go out to explain them that I have nothing to do with it. There are some messages, which I do not like to associate myself with such as when people write religious messages and ask you to comment, or people who are on mission self-glorification. I definitely read and respond on friendly, genuine, and funny postings. So we must agree that just like every thing comes with its positive and negative charge, social networking websites come in a package of good and bad aspect.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your post, I realized I had only joined Facebook because I was trying to get a job there when I was unemployed for a while. Facebook required you to have a profile before they would consider your resume, and application. I agree with you Lee, that it is difficult to keep up with all the social webistes. You are on Linkedin and I’m on Facebook. What if we are friends? Should we join all networking websites? It just all seems absurd, and a part of “the man’s” master plan to control us. The next wave of social networking websites, I will boycott them.
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