Tech-nically Social

Great piece on social media from global.executive.board. - (non-legal!!)

In today’s recession the United States has provided individuals with an opportunity to stand up on their own feet. Due to loss of jobs, more and more Americans are turning to themselves to put bread on their tables, starting their own small businesses. The fastest growing field in the United States is computer and data processing services. This field varies from engineers to technical support, everyone in the middle, and everyone all of those people needs. As you may be able to see, the growth of one field leads to development of jobs of all kinds.  But the catch is that many companies never really make it out of that half-way successful bracket… enter social media. Social media has been playing a key role in helping companies to get their names out to the masses, and increasing the human network exponentially. In today’s world, if you don’t have a Facebook you’re not cool, if you don’t have a LinkedIn you’re not successful, and if you don’t have your own website you’re not important. That’s why everybody is trying to jump on social media before the wagon is full.

I know what you’re thinking “he’s brilliant… I should go do that too!” No! Not yet. What people fail to recognize is that, in the digital age, our media websites now serve as first impressions for employers, investors, friends, potential spouses, etc. And being a techie myself, I know just how bad we are at first impressions, and second, and third. We’re awkward people with an absolute inability to socialize properly. However, we can use social media to mold our personas the way we feel they should be portrayed to the people we meet on a daily bases. Now, I’m not saying to go to www.[enter dating website here].com and tell them you’re a 25 year old football player, when you’re really a 50 year old man who hasn’t ran since the bullies in 10th grade. Social media is where you can go to let your real self shine through properly. If you sit and really think about how to work on your persona, you can put it onto the web for everyone to see, exactly how you want them to see it.

You can publish your accomplishments, your knowledge, wisdom, personality and anything else online without the awkward silence after “hello.” I know you think I’m blabbing, but here is my point… if I Google or Bing [You’re name here], you should be the first person to show up, and if you’re really good, you should be the whole first page. How does this help you? People who invest in companies, buy from companies, and do anything with any company love knowing that the person running the company is a good man. Example, although there are many other operating systems in this world, we all know two: (1) Windows, (2) Mac OSX.  This is because we know Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.

Their entire companies are built around the person running them. No matter how digital the world gets, we need to see faces, we need to recognize names, and we need to feel involved. If you properly use digital media you can utilize it to make your name, show your face, and make us feel involved in your world. I guarantee if you have substance to back you, then you’ll move up a bracket or two.
– by Nabeel Shah is a member of global. executive. board.