On Tuesday we had a guest speaker in our class, Dr. Raul Pacheco, and he talked about how we as students and practitioners of communications on social media could create and maintain our social profiles effectively.
I'm no stranger to social media - I've been blogging since 2008, been on Twitter and LinkedIn since 2009 and picked up other social platforms along the way (Yelp!, Foursquare, Instagram, etc.). I've even collaborated on other blogs with friends and been part of a group wiki. Being social for me personally is like the air that I breathe - something I am naturally inclined to do.
However something Dr. Pacheco said on Tuesday resonated deeply with me - share generously with your networks and don't be afraid to let your personal profiles creep into your professional profiles and vice versa. I remember struggling with that concept when I first started the Twitter feed for my organization (@UofAPublicHlth).
For months and years I had been tweeting from my personal account, building a steady group of followers and solidifying some great relationships. I knew how I wanted to portray myself personally in the online environment but was scared stiff to tweet on behalf of my organization. I won't lie, the first few months were pretty terrible...I had built up a great group of followers but they weren't our internal folks and they weren't the media members I had hoped to engage with.
One day out of desperation I contacted the social media expert at the University of Alberta at the time and asked him for some advice on how I could grow and connect with audiences from our professional account. I remember Andy telling it to me straight and it went something like this, "You have this amazing personal network of followers and those you follow. You have great conversations with these people and you share relevant information. This is what is missing in your company Twitter account. Don't forget that even professional accounts need to show a personality - it helps build credibility."
Once that lightbulb came on for me my organization's Twitter feed skyrocketed and I haven't looked back since. So while I also share generously with retweets, comments and connections on my social media platforms and on those I follow, I also remember to share just a little bit of who I am on the places where I live socially.
I have really enjoyed following your tweets this past year, Andrea. The mix of local info, sports rallying, grad school, and personal tidbits is awesome and reflects the multi-dimensional person you are. The generosity piece really shines through as you never miss a beat.
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing that upfront and personal story with us--inspires us MACTers to take leaps of faith
ReplyDeleteI will be looking to you in the future, Andrea! Transitioning back into the marketing and recruitment world will require me to get my act together in terms of figuring out the personal/professional network situation. You are a great example to follow and thanks for sharing your experiences.
ReplyDeleteSo true ..."even professional accounts need to show a personality". Having followed your twitter account over the past year, you have accomplished this! Moreover, it has been achieved with much generosity :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Marc, Dianne, Carolyn and Sylvia for the kind words and the encouragement. While I seem to give the impression that I know what I'm doing I'm still learning how this crazy social media, networks, work vs. personal stuff goes too :)
ReplyDeleteAndrea,
ReplyDeleteI am a beginner user in terms of twitter engagement. I remember that you were the first person who I followed on twitter...it was so nice! Because I learned through you what generosity anyone can be and how much we can share through social media ...which is amazing!
Thank you for telling us your experience!