This post is now featured on BrazenCareerist here.
Just a little over 2 years ago, when social media wasn't as mass as it is today, we all read at least as much as we did online or otherwise, career related or not, if not less than today. Any career-oriented person I knew, consumed several news articles and analysis reports on a daily basis, at work or outside. The fact however was, that nobody really knew what we were reading. Nobody found out how much knowledge we were keeping up-to-date with. Nobody had a chance to know how interested and active we really were in our chosen career and academic fields. When the time came to look for a job however, your reading really showed. Because you had confidence from information and knowledge.
Fast forward to today. We still read. We still analyze what we read, and we still use it as intelligent talking points in different settings. But the huge shift is, everyone knows what we're doing. And everyone has an easy, accessible way to appreciate it. A huge growth in job seekers, entrepreneurs and independent consultants has made it a given that we have a well-manged social media presence. Our busy Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin updates show that we're avid readers, and that we enjoy sharing interesting information with our network(s). Our blog posts quote articles we've read and demonstrate that we have a questioning mind and that we have an opinion of our own. We have a list of 'activity' on Linkedin, that shows the links we've shared and the slideshare presentations we are learning from.
The latter case may seem like the perfect scenario. What better way to build professional credibility than publicly showing how you learn and enrich your knowledge on a daily basis! There's a huge flaw however in this case. In the former case, the lack of an openly public online presence made you do what you really wanted to. Or not. In the latter, a majority of people I see around me merely use Social Media as props. Unless you truly take your knowledge forward through IRL connections and prove your worth for real, sharing 20 links a day on Marketing does not mean you actually read all that information and understand the challenges and opportunities that Brands face. Retweeting info on Market Research doesn't say you have great analysis skills. It's like showing you're rich, by wearing fake diamonds, than wearing classy jewelery that shows you have taste and true appreciation for jewelry.
Has our changing media landscape, coupled with a depressed economy, made us desperate but fake online image builders? Have our public profiles forced us to create an impression of intelligence, but no real substance?
3 comments:
Nice challenge about sharing links! Sometimes I am afraid I'm not sharing enough, but it's things I read from people I want to support. And those off-line conversations are so important. I saw a tweet today that pretty much exclaimed "Why haven't you learned that twitter is not a strategy?!?" Apparently there's still some learning to go...
Well, we have a choice, dont we...we can choose to stay away as I know people to do...If we dont like to share, we can choose not to...If we are fake by using social networks, its because we chose to, not the other way round.
We choose to be 'practical' and go with the 'in-thing'. All too human really!!
@Emily - I feel the same way too. There's so much information out there, I feel like I'm not sharing everything I find interesting with different sets of friends. I sometimes crave meeting with all the people who comment on my posts and having an in-person debate over things :). I guess I'm more comfortable conversing with people in person.
@Protik - Agree. I see some people on Twitter & Linkedin share really interesting and relevant information. But a majority still share nonsense just so their feed / pages look full. Over time, I've seen the latter happen more and more. Thanks for the comment!
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