(Vancouver) Seconds after finding the photo of a squirrel inserting itself into a tourists’ self-timed shot, I’d posted it to Facebook. But when I came across an Eddie Izzard routine on Youtube, I thought about posting it… and then e-mailed it to a few friends.

Making decisions about where and how we share amusing things is becoming a daily part of our lives when living in a social media world. If we’re conscious of the implications of our decisions, we can engage with a social and professional network around the world. If we’re unconscious about these decisions, we can inadvertently alienate the very people we’re trying to connect with.

We are becoming aware that social media increases the focus on our personal brands. Individuals, like organizations, are learning that there are risks to unconsciously allowing an online identity to come into existence, and benefits to consciously using social media tools to creating a strong brand, requiring understanding the 4 Ps of marketing yourself in a social media world.

But managing your personal marketing mix doesn’t have to be complicated. Just apply the same standards to social media as you would in a social function in which you don’t know everyone.


We are not amused
I paused about sharing the Eddie Izzard video, in which he delivers a hilarious monologue about Darth Vader trying to order lunch on the Death Star, because he swears and not everyone is comfortable with such language. And he’s dressed in makeup and drag, and not everyone is comfortable with that either.

I knew the friends I sent it to would not take offense, and would enjoy the insights about the nature of power in bureaucratic organizations. The responses back confirmed this perspective, ranging from: “brilliant: his early stuff is the cream” (theatre director in Dublin); to “fascinating example of what happens when an organization becomes so large that employees can only identify with their immediate supervisor” (VP with bank in Toronto).

I also know that others don’t find swearing and men in makeup to be amusing, which is why I didn’t post the video on Facebook for everyone to see. Not only did I wish to avoid potentially offending people within my network who may not share this sense of humour, Facebook has become an extension of the work environment. This means the same rules that apply at a social business function now apply online, such as not telling a joke that some may find offensive.

The real you?
In the words of the authors of Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom, “Our personal selves—or ‘true’ identities—are usually banished from the organizations and institutions that formalize our relations with the world. Apart from genuine eccentrics, most of us instinctively keep in check our personal identity, which is concealed awkwardly behind a rigidly polite mask when we are interacting with strangers, conversations with colleagues and dealing with bureaucracies.”

A growing number of people are coming to the realization that they will need to calibrate their personal identity on social networking sites. A recent survey conducted by CareerBuilder and featured in eWeek, in which 2,600 hiring managers participated, found that:

• 45% of hiring managers had used social networking sites to research candidates, which is more than double from last year.
• Approximately 35% of potential employers found “eye-brow raising” content that caused them to pass on a candidate.

The hesitation over the Eddie Izzard video was due to an awareness that while some people may find it to be a funny take on a powerful leader defeated in the execution of a mundane task, others might find it to be eye-brow raising.

No indecision with a squirrel crashing a photo, though: furry woodland creatures are incapable of giving offense.