briansolis - Latest Comments in Casting a Digital Shadow; Your Reputation Precedes You

Re: Casting a Digital Shadow; Your Reputation Precedes You

Jacque — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 10:11:14 -0000

very thought provoking, to say the least.

Re: Casting a Digital Shadow; Your Reputation Precedes You

rmgravely — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:07:29 -0000

I've been telling my college age son this for some time now and this post will be headed his way in a moment. Thanks for putting it in new context.

Re: Casting a Digital Shadow; Your Reputation Precedes You

Jen Howver — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:26:51 -0000

great stuff brian. one thing i'd add...as a parent of two young children, it's definitely something i'm sure i'll have to teach them about someday, but it's also my responsibility right now to respect their identities and privacy. i stopped blogging about them, and only twitter about them on my private, locked profile. i decided that someday they may not want their friends (or future employer) to read the story about the time their diaper exploded or they did/said something silly, even though it was really cute at the time!

Re: Casting a Digital Shadow; Your Reputation Precedes You

briansolis — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 15:03:18 -0000

I hear you. It's interesting how in the chatroom and IM culture we maintained a secret or alternate identity, but in social media (a very public forum) we are ourselves. However, I suggest that we diagnose ourselves with multiple personality "order" so that we can maintain multiple personalities online related to work and personal activity (including private interaction).

Re: Casting a Digital Shadow; Your Reputation Precedes You

angela b — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:58:12 -0000

geesh..now that we're all being "monitored" by corporate big brother, we can't have any fun online anymore..bring back the anonymous chatrooms of yesteryear where my profile was a sham and no one could trace it back to my real world self!

Re: Casting a Digital Shadow; Your Reputation Precedes You

Steve Downes — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 06:42:16 -0000

There's another aspect to this. A favourite saying of mine is 'be careful of what you wish for. You might just get it'. Many people spend lifetimes in careers which ultimately give them little personal fulfillment. Maybe they make money, but little happiness. Just maybe having our 'real' self transparant to people who will influence our future direction might make it more likely that we end where we should be not somewhere we think we should.

Re: Casting a Digital Shadow; Your Reputation Precedes You

fausty — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 02:22:23 -0000

Odd as this might sound in current context, some of us are actually just as concerned with making a positive impact on the world - and living a life of honesty and integrity and service to others - as we are in "shaping" our "personal brand" so that we look like whitebread, vanilla, boring candidates for low-level employment at a mainstream company. Yes, I know - how utterly silly to be worried about something other than "trying to fit in" - but you might even say Western culture has a long tradition of people caring about more than just, you know, being employable.

If everyone on the web followed this advice - hide anything interesting or non-mainstream or remotely "controversial" behind the private walls of a for-profit "social network" - that would certainly succeed in creating a castrated, non-threatening, utterly self-censored public internet. And that, in turn, might help big companies to sell more crap to people and make more money. So, if that's the be-all and end-all of the existence of human life, then by all means let's all engage in frantic self-censorship to ensure that nobody things we're not (gasp!) like everyone else.

That said, I suspect a few of us will keep speaking our minds, keep presenting ourselves HONESTLY online - good and bad - rather than just shoving airbrushed caricatures ourselves forward as if they were real, keep exploring those scary "controversial" topics, and keep rejecting self-censorship. Ironically, it's often people who actually have the balls to be who they are, to speak with integrity instead of with mealy-mouthed corporate mumblewords, and to actively reach OUT in furtherance of spreading genuine ideas and experience who are considered "interesting" by the sheeple who are more interested in being spectators than being participants.

In other words, if you're going to self-neuter so that you look appropriately boring and content-free in your "public personal brand," then that just leaves more room for those of us who choose to be who we are and let the world think what it will. I.e. followers - and leaders.

Fausty | www.cultureghost.org

Re: Casting a Digital Shadow; Your Reputation Precedes You

EricUngs — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 22:53:19 -0000

Great post! And right on!
I think in the future resumes will become obsolete as social networks and search engines become even stronger than they are today. Even now, for the most part, resumes serve as a business card highlighting candidate’s contact info to perform a Google search. Reviewing results on Google allows hiring managers to better understand a candidate’s true personality and communication skills. None of that shows on resumes. Your professional future lies within the portrayal of your own web presence that is created by you. Always consider what your boss would think if you posted this or uploaded that.
Thanks for the insight.

Re: Casting a Digital Shadow; Your Reputation Precedes You

briansolis — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:27:37 -0000

Well said!

Re: Casting a Digital Shadow; Your Reputation Precedes You

yaelbeeri — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:02:14 -0000

Very interesting post. I can't help but linking it in my mind to discussions I have been having recently about the importance of transparancy and how the lack of is harmful to your online reputation. Your digital shadow - control it and make it real. Thanks Brian.

Re: Casting a Digital Shadow; Your Reputation Precedes You

briansolis — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:43:59 -0000

Kevin, thank you. Let's get this in front of as many people as possible!

Re: Casting a Digital Shadow; Your Reputation Precedes You

Kevin Steltz — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:17:16 -0000

Exceptional advice, and applicable to just about everybody on the planet. Thank you for writing it.

Re: Casting a Digital Shadow; Your Reputation Precedes You

briansolis — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:32:46 -0000

Appreciate it Yvonne!

Re: Casting a Digital Shadow; Your Reputation Precedes You

Yvonne N. Pinckard — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:29:10 -0000

Food for thought.... Loved it!

Re: Casting a Digital Shadow; Your Reputation Precedes You

briansolis — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:00:56 -0000

Thank you!

Re: Casting a Digital Shadow; Your Reputation Precedes You

amnigos — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:49:01 -0000

Very interesting insights.