Facebook: Personal, Professional… and Private!
It’s true the lines between personal and professional get real blurry in the online world with all the blogs and social networking sites. Especially for us self-employed peeps, when who we are as a person is also our business.
I’m all for revealing information about my personal life, my personal thoughts and opinions. I think it does my business good; my community gets to see (most) all of me. They get to know me on a deeper level, and see my habits, interests and quirks.
However, here’s what I also know for sure: just because personal spills into professional, doesn’t mean we can’t also have a third element - and that is private. Each of us has a private life too and that’s where the line should be drawn.
Thing is, even in password protected, membership only type sites and communities, I’m of the opinion that anything you don’t want the whole world to know about you should not be posted online.
So, it’s up to you, but I think you can let your hair down a bit and choose to be as transparent as you wish, yet not be in fear of totally exposing yourself online!
On my next post, I’ll share a short how-to guide on adjusting your Privacy settings.
Make A Comment: ( 10 so far )
10 Responses to “Facebook: Personal, Professional… and Private!”
Mary Lynn Archibald
March 11th, 2008
The good news is Facebook has extensive Privacy settings that users can edit to their liking. You can be practically invisible on Facebook, save for your chosen/approved friends! Look for my 9-minute video on YouTube about editing your Faceobok privacy settings.
Mari Smith
March 11th, 2008
I’ve been lucky. Thanks to my education and because of the nature of the microcosm in which I work, I’ve always been reluctant to disclose what you call my ‘private’ life, so I’m fine with online social networks.
Thanks for pointing that need to those who might be hurt.
Cheers
Nadine
Nadine Touzet
April 14th, 2008
[...] blurred between personal and professional. BUT, you must still have a private life as I wrote about here last [...]
Mari Smith - Relationship Marketing Specialist » Blog Archive » Do You Limit What You Share About Yourself On Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn?
January 22nd, 2009
[...] Many folks think you have to live in a glass house once you get online and use social networks. My take on this is the lines are for sure blurred between personal and professional. However, you still get to maintain a private life and don’t have to reveal all. See this related post: Facebook: Personal, Professional… and Private! [...]
Why Facebook? Social Networking for Fun and Profits! by Mari Smith » Blog Archive » 10 Ways To Stay Safe On Facebook
February 6th, 2009
Thank you, that is very informative. So I am right to say that social networking is more of gathering a group of individuals with the same interests to form a community. 
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robert santos
February 28th, 2009
[...] to be on Facebook and Twitter, back in February 2008, I wrote about these three areas of life: personal, professional, and private. Today, for a specific reason, I am choosing to move the personal | private [...]
[...] context of how transparent to be on Facebook and Twitter I wrote about these three areas of life: personal, professional, and private. The full story is [...]
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July 31st, 2009
[...] Facebook: Personal, Professional… and Private! [...]
Facebook News Feed and Wall: How To Control Privacy | MariSmith.com
August 24th, 2009
[...] Facebook: Personal, Professional… and Private! [...]
Great point! I know it’s tricky to maintain your privacy, and that’s why I hesitate to get involved with FaceBook. Yikes!