Your Facebook Profile Says More about You Than You Think

We often create our own fortune or misfortune as people will say. We take decisions and do things without considering the long-term effect on our reputation and our career. Social media is one platform many use wrongly, they forget that it speaks loud and sends a perception of them to the world. The evolution of social media has redefined human interaction and communication. In fact, in the most remote places in the world, one shouldn’t be surprised that even when the people living in such places may not have the basic necessities of life, they understand the meaning of ‘Facebook’ and how it relates to their everyday life.What does that tell us? Facebook as a social media tool is a language that is common between the developed and the developing world. It is a platform that connects people globally; and one that people use to express ideas, emotions and what they think about certain issues. The truth is that the reality of Facebook as a platform for human interaction is a fact that the world is still exploring and has come to accept. Due to this fact, some employers use this opportunity to trail on their prospective employee, to have a perception about them before meeting them.Facebook started as a platform for social interaction between friends, but has evolved into a tool for marketing, branding and reputation management; leaving people with new experiences that keep them going back to the site. This keeps them exploring to discover what more the platform can be used for. With this powerful social media tool, one can keep abreast with latest information as it unfolds.Today, people no longer need to change regions before they are able to have a feel of what their friends, prospects and clients want; they can simply tell from their engagement with them on Facebook or going through their profile. What they think, feel or want can be known with viable engagement that seeks the opinion of those they have segmented as their target. We can say the evolution of Facebook has redefined the way we interact and also affected the way we do business. Professionals have taken advantage of the platform to redefine branding and marketing. The perception of the public about an individual, a product or service is now highly dependent on how they are positioned on social media. People tend to relate more with that virtual entity they see online before meeting that individual in reality. So, Facebook as a social media tool says a lot about your brand as an individual and as a corporate organisation.The misery today is that so many people don’t know that as individuals, they represent themselves as brands; while for organisations they don’t know that the quality of their engagement on Facebook gives the public a particular perception about their products or services. Brand misrepresentation is vastly spreading on Facebook and people do this when they expose their personal issues to the world, when they post nude pictures on the internet and also say things that do not represent their personality or organisation. But when your brand is represented and your goals are communicated, it simply means you are fully represented virtually and in real time. And that could further enhance your career as an individual or your business as an entrepreneur. If properly harnessed, it means your brand will speak loud and also send the right image about you.Marketing is another aspect of business that has been redefined by this powerful social media tool called Facebook. Marketing has gone from the norm we used to know. It has gone from traditional media to social media. And for an organisation or an individual to succeed in this path, both traditional and social media have to be synergised.To correct the mis-representation of a brand as an individual or as a corporate organisation, I recommend the following steps:

• Make sure that your profile represents you. You can do this by being honest when filling your profile on any social media platform
• Put a social media policy in place to guide you as regards when to post and what to post when it comes to your brand as an individual or an organisation
• Be deliberate about what you post and take full responsibility for it
• Know your defined audience and post content that appeals to them
• Make your content clear and give the content direction
• Define a clear goal and what you want to achieve with your social media presence
• Engage your audience and also seek their opinion
• Make sure your posts are informative and relevant to your readers
• Be consistent in your posts and pay attention to your grammar
• As an organisation, use ‘call to action’ when necessary.

When all these are taken care of, your social media page will automatically reflect the original you and will fulfil the reason for which it was created. Also you can be sure you have sent the right perception about your personality to your prospective employers who might visit your page.“Think of yourself as a brand. You need to be remembered. What will they remember you for? What defines you? If you have it in you, do something that defines you. Invent something, develop a unique skill, get noticed for something — it creates a talking point.”   ― Chris Arnold