It’s estimated 41.6 percent of the U.S. population has a Facebook account, and 13 percent of the population is part of the Twitterverse. Once you add in sites like GovLoop, LinkedIn, Second Life and YouTube, it’s not unusual for someone to have multiple social media profiles.
Social media sites are now as much a part of American culture as baseball and apple pie. In between strikes and slices, we post and tweet.
The conversation these days seems to revolve around balancing our personal and professional lives online. Many people want to put their best business foot forward while simultaneously allowing a bit of their personality to pepper their profile.
Most people know the new golden rule: ponder before you post. We’re not only talking about status updates, but also comments, photos and videos. From beauty queens to politicians, we’ve all seen stories featuring people who were burned by the white hot glare of social media.
For those of us who use social media at both work and home, we must decide what to share – or not to share. You may want your friends to see photos of your beach vacation, but not your co-workers.
When it comes to balancing your life online, how do you fit together the professional and personal pieces of your social media profile puzzle?
Recruitment 411 is the official blog of the IRS Recruitment Office.
Take the time to get to know a platforms’ privacy settings (e.g., I know exactly who can see each picture/update/whatever I post on Facebook). Then, even still, don’t post anything you’d be humiliated to have made public.