From teens to 59-year-old pedophiles, every Tom, Dick, and Harry is starting to establish their online identity through seemingly sophisticated methods such as blogs, social networks, and forums. The Internet is literally flooded with free programs and methods through which one can build their own personalized web-space and use said web-space to communicate with friends, express ideas, and saturate the ‘net with even more unnecessary web pages. Unbeknown to most, every man, women, and child who builds his own online profile, whether it be on MySpace, Facebook, or even these very forums, is crafting his own online identity and online brand. The calamity of this situation is that, despite the ridiculous availability to capitalize upon this concept, very few have taken such initiative to craft a favorable online identity and brand themselves through professional and personalized web-space. Businesses have caught the social networking bug and certain entrepreneurs and political candidates are catching on too. The question is: what’s stopping you from building a MySpace profile or starting a blog that actually contributes to your personal goals and aspirations? As Mashable (social networking news site) suggestions, the resources are there, you just have to know how to use them.
The media repeatedly infiltrates our minds into discerning the vastly popular social networks of MySpace and Facebook, stating that they are a breeding ground for online predators and irrelevant and inaccurate discussion between life-less teens. Additionally, on occasion, the media further asserts that while many blogs and forums are advocates for free speech and liberalism, they lack sufficient levels of accurate data. Such claims mask the true potential of most online networks and blogging services: they are more than just outlets for life-less teens to blab on about high-school gossip, they are opportunities for one to definitively establish their identity. Imagine that… the Internet can actually work for you; for nothing more than the time and effort you put forth. There are a plethora of free online resources to help build an accurate online identity that mimics your personal life and assists in helping you achieve your life-long goals.
Obviously, the intention of this installment of Kudos and Calamities is to highlight the profound availability of resources to construct your own online identity. The idea truly spawned from the collective media attention to the web pages, blogs, and social networking profiles of the 2008 presidential candidates. From Clinton to Paul, every candidate is demonstrating their presidential agenda on dynamic sites such as MySpace and YouTube. If the presidential candidates can secure votes and reach a broad target audience on the net, so can you! As we delve further into the concepts and methods for doing so, however, I have taken the liberty to list a few pointers here and there that should facilitate the process and have you well on your way to portraying your real world identity through online networks and personalized web pages.
Whether you decide to start your own blog or simply build a professional Facebook profile, it is essential to follow a few simple guidelines.
- Personal information should be consolidated to interesting facts and personal accomplishments – your personal grievances and favorite foods are of little importance to anyone who would be intently examining your profile for business purposes.
- Neutral colors and content is a must – nobody wants to be blinded by psychedelic images and vibrant, unreadable texts.
- The images and written content must be exquisite enough to not only catch people’s attention and make them come back, but to also convince the public that you are an intellectual who commands respect.
Creating a profile is just the beginning, however. After the arduous task of constructing your aesthetically pleasing and accurate chuck of the ‘net, you have to be diligent enough to keep it updated frequently. Old information that is no longer of interest to your target group can drastically impact how you and your online identity are received by the public: you will look like a lazy vagabond if you simply dump a truck load of pertinent personal information on your site, but never update it for months at a time. Band profiles are perfect examples of why this is important. If someone visits a band profile and samples some of their tunes, they will most likely come back every once and a while to see if something new has been uploaded. Obviously, if fresh, new content, isn’t always being provided, the listener will most likely lose interest and start frequenting a different band’s profile (one who is on top of things and releases new tracks once a month).
The benefits of constructing a professional online identity are virtually limitless. Students applying to university can use their online profiles as a supplement source of supportive information which makes the applicant more attractive (they will most likely search for each applicant’s name online to see what comes up). Entrepreneurs can use their online profiles as surrogate business cards and free methods of advertising; not only will it help get your name out there, but it will associate your business services with a broader demographic of people. And, likewise, those who are seeking employment can build a professional based blog and MySpace profile to function as an online resume and offer the opportunity to graphical display personal conquests (projects that you’ve contributed to, etc.).
In My Opinion
In order to be the most successful in life, I have always believed that you need to exploit every available resource that has the potential of contributing to your life goals. In today’s day and age, technology is certainly a viable medium for presenting yourself as the professional you are. This can be done in a melody of ways, the most prominent being the construction of an online profile that reflects your professional side. These online profiles, in my opinion are perfect resources for establishing your online identity; despite the fact that most MySpace pages and Facebook profiles are littered with irrelevant teenage gibberish, the potential to exploit the functions and popularity of online profiles is just too much to pass up. That’s precisely why the 2008 candidates have dedicated so much time and effort into their online identities.
So what are you waiting for?… start your own blog, build a social networking profile, and start to make the Internet work in your favor.
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