How to Better Manage Your Social Profiles

Social media is a wonderful thing. It connects people through words, videos, pictures, songs, games and more. It's important not to ignore the power of social media whether for personal or business reasons. Here are a few tips for managing your online social presence:

  • If you are not yet on active online through social media, then you are behind. It's important that you stake claim to your name by creating a profile. This way, if someone wanted to create an account under your name and make defamatory posts, you have proof that this was not you and not your account.

  • You might be surprised how much information there is out there about you, especially when you have an online social presence. If you try searching your own name on Google, you can see what the rest of the world sees when they search you.

  • Within many social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, your best friends are the Account & Privacy Settings.

    • Account Settings - It's good to show off your true self and brand online by sharing some personal information such as where you're from, where you work or where you went to school. You may also want to share more intimate details such as who you're in a relationship with or put your email or phone number on your profile. However, just always be aware of who might be seeing this information.

    • Privacy Settings - These settings allow you to control who sees what on your social profiles. This is includes who within the platform (eg. Facebook friends, friends of friends and non-friends) can see you and what they can see (your pictures, posts, personal information). This also includes what someone might see when they generally search you online. The more information you put out into the online world, the more important Privacy Settings become.

  • Your online social presence can be a great outlet for your voice and self-expression. It's great way for getting recognition from others who genuinely want to know and follow you. Frankly, its empowering knowing that your post could influence hundreds, thousands, or millions of people.