Social networking is a reputation builder. It’s up to you whether that reputation is positive or negative, as with the examples here.
Today, we’re going to talk social networking. Now, if you’ve been reading my articles over the last year, you know that I don’t advocate substituting social networking for prospecting, but I do think social networking can be an excellent reputation building tool. Further, I would consider LinkedIn to be my favorite social networking platform.
Today, we’re going to talk about how even LinkedIn can work against you. When you post something on a social networking platform, you essentially are ringing a bell; i.e. sending a message out. As they say, you can’t un-ring a bell, and recently, I saw an example of how a bell can be rung badly. The post, on a LinkedIn group, went like this:
“Does anyone have a good suggestion or referral for a Web developer who isn’t going to charge me an arm and a leg for something a 3rd grader could do?” Now, let’s break down what this person (who shall remain nameless) posted. First of all, he’s looking for a Web developer. So far, so good. Next, he indicates that his budget is low (won’t charge me an arm and a leg); questionable, but still not that bad. But the closing offended a lot of people, as it should. “For something a 3rd grader could do” is a slap at an entire industry of trained professionals.
My question is, if you were a Web developer, why would you want to work with this guy? You already know that he pinches pennies and that he has little respect for your business. Hence, the likelihood that you’re going to have a satisfactory transaction is low. Most of the responses were of the tone saying that Web developing, like other business disciplines, is one that takes training and experience, and that experience has a monetized value. The bottom line, however, is that the poster ended up damaging his reputation by posting an insulting comment.
One problem with social networking is that it’s very easy to post things in the heat of the moment (this person might have just had a frustrating experience) that you can repent in leisure. Even given this fact, it takes discipline not to do so, because LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms make it easy and accessible to post the stream of consciousness; in fact, they virtually demand it. This is what I mean when I say that social networking lends itself to lowest-common-denominator conversation.
A further example, from the same board and a week earlier: “Can anyone recommend a KC recruiter that has clients needing Business Development / Sales / Sales Management candidates and will actually work hard to create good matches? I sure can’t find one!” This comment was from a job seeker and not a hiring manager. Full disclosure; I have met with this person in the past because he was referred to me; he wasn’t a fit for a search I was doing at the moment. After reading this comment, he’s removed himself from being a fit for any search I might do in the future.
The point is that it’s easy to insult entire professions, or providers, without thinking. In the case of post #2, I have no doubt that I will at some point hear from him again as a “follow up” call. What will my response be? Can you guess?
As I noted, social networking can be a great tool for building reputations. The key is that you want to make sure that those reputations are positive and not negative. Everything you put out on the Internet creates a composite picture of your character; is your social networking consistent with the reputation you want to build? If not, why not?
One quick technique that I use – I never enter anything directly into Twitter or LinkedIn. I always write a draft in Word, even for Tweets. I let the draft sit for an hour. If I still like it, I will post it.
