Thanks to the internet and the smart phone the world is not only becoming a very small place but also becoming very open. It is increasingly difficult to keep aspects of one’s personal life confidential unless they are completely offline.
The extent of data and information we all share online coupled with the powerful analytics and data mining software available today, make our lives an open book, quite literally. Anyone who has access to such software can unravel anyone’s life in minutes if not seconds.
A recent study abroad showed this reality in a rather frightening perspective.
When they studied the profile of people based on the usage pattern of social media, it revealed that various websites know as much about you as one’s own spouse and just a little less than what ones mother would know about the person.
Common practice
In effect, the data crumbs you leave behind on the internet paints a rather vivid psychological picture of you.
This power of getting to know the real person is prompting recruiters to not only check an applicant’s LinkedIn profile but also look up their Facebook profile, tweets, etc.
A recent start up in Bengaluru has taken this concept one step further and has developed a tool which will mine data from all such sources and create personality profile of the applicant. Such profiles are not only based on what you post. This is influenced by the pages you have liked, the pictures you share, the groups you join and last but not the least the posts that you like.
Although it might sound intrusive and not correct, such profiling is becoming a common practice.
How to beat the system
In such an environment it would help your online brand if you followed some simple guidelines. First, be conscious of the image you would like to create and present. In professional forums like LinkedIn, consciously adhere to this image and associate yourself with only such content which adds to the same. For example, a post with a picture urging others to forward it in the next few seconds for good luck does not help. So avoid liking, sharing or even commenting on such posts.
Even in personal forums, keep a list of dos and don’ts with regard to your image. Even though a site like Facebook is about fun and personal contacts, the way you behave reflects your personality. If you have a very different image on one site and a diametrically opposite one on another it will also not help. Ironically it will show that person to be someone who puts on an act or is a hypocrite. So, be conscious of the posts you like, share and comment.
Be cautious and prudent with regard to what you post, like, share and comment upon. Using bad language, slang, profanity, obviously does not help. Similarly sharing insensitive comments or jokes based on gender or race discrimination might be great fun but does not help your online brand.
Simply put, think if you would behave like that in a physical world? Would you laugh at that joke? Would you share something with a person? Will you make a comment or reply to a person face to face?
If you would not do such a thing in the physical world, don’t do it in the virtual world.