#UOSM2008 Topic 3 Summary: Authentic Online Professional Profile

This weeks topic on how to build an authentic online professional profile was to date the most engaging topic, there was a lot of conversation and replies on blogs and conversations after the initial reply. In addition Twitter was used massively this week to share articles and thoughts on the topic, to the extent where I felt like if I wasn’t on my phone checking #UOSM2008 I was missing out!

From my own research and like many other of my peers, LinkedIn came out as the top platform to portray your professional profile online, and with good reason as it is the biggest business networking platform. Whilst in my initial blog post I focused a lot on engagement and how engagement is the way you develop the authenticity of your professional profile, it seemed like a lot of my peers hadn’t focused on this particular aspect. What many did show is how to build your profile on LinkedIn, Kaya summarised this perfectly in her blog post which you can find here, this made it clear what you should and shouldn’t do!

Twitter was a hot topic with regards to professional profiles, with many debates going on. Sam and I had a talk about if Twitter allowed us to have in depth conversations about subjects and if there was a platform we could seamlessly move the conversation to. This made me reflect on my conversations on Twitter, yes sometimes I find it hard fitting everything I had to say in 140 characters but it teaches us to make it more succinct, it also made me realise Twitter is the best platform for connecting and interacting with those in the industry you are interesting in.

Perhaps the most thought provoking blog post this week was by George, where he said a  “blog can be seen as the heart of an online professional, giving a face to grades and pass achievements” (his blog post can be found here). After doing a bit more research, it makes sense. Blogs can direct you to other platforms such as your Twitter and LinkedIn, but gives you a lot more information on the particular individual in question. Whether or not employers will look at blogs in depth is an entirely different matter, but all the information is there for people to access. Google+ was also a platform I hadn’t given much thought to as I am not an active user. Reflecting upon this as I still have a profile on it, it should probably be updated, as this may have more of a negative effect if it is public but there is nothing on it.

So what have I concluded? Authenticity is definitely key, no matter what platform you are using to show and sell yourself professionally. The contacts and networks you make on these platforms are vital as it shows others the industry you are interested in. However, don’t forget to inject your personality into these platforms as this will show the real you and you will be able to differentiate yourself from others who may look like an ‘online robot’ (as described by one of my peers).

Filed under: Topic 3 Tagged: authenticity, LinkedIn, professional profile, Twitter, UOSM2008