In 2020 we are no longer just who we are physical. Our offline human form has an alter ego which is the sum of all our digital footprint: our online persona. At a simple google search, you can find all the results of everything that has to do with your name: tweets from 10 years ago, facebook posts, opinions, and career path, political choices more or less conflicting. In the shadows, it is even worse: tech giants have direct access to everything you do on your phone or your laptop.
Philosophical or not, before someone - a business partner, a future boss, a future life partner- get to know you in real life, they already made the first impression about you by simply google searching your name. Our online persona is created by the reflection of all the people that have written about you or interact with you online.
We tend to ignore the reputation dangers that online personas are to our offline life. Many times, people in powerful positions tend to treat social networks as a naive tool to pass time whilst giving free access to hidden behaviors and future opportunities for others to leverage on careless online behavior.
The online presence of anyone trying to achieve anything professionally is becoming a PR problem and the reality-check is “not all PR is good PR”. Investors invest in founders and teams not only in the idea; companies hire people not only experience; CEOs do global business with other CEO's and often the reputation of the leader has a direct impact on brand equity. The risk of letting an algorithm to choose how your online persona is perceived is greater than a lack of a firm handshake at the first meeting. As a result, a good strategy would be to look at the online as a parallel world where everyone shortlists everyone based on what they leave as a track on social platforms.
Sometimes rejection or fake impressions come from a misused image we created for ourselves online. Indirectly, everything we do online without paying attention to will feed raw unprocessed behavior information about us to an algorithm. That algorithm creates our uncontrolled personal brand narrative. And it's often far from what we would like it to be. Taking control of your narrative online means taking control of your reputation. Accepting the fact we are no longer just who we are in real life is the first step into analyzing the unconscious behavior you have on social platforms and chose more carefully the content you add on your Linkedin or Instagram and the impact that it has.
To start your online audit, google yourself first. Check if the results are in sync with the perception you want to create. Decide if you have a PR problem and compare your professional goals with the persona you let an algorithm create online. Asses and become mindful of your social media activity compared with your career ambitions. This self-imposed digital audit will clarify the concept of 2 personas and their PR problems.
In conclusion, many rejections and failures are happening before we even have the chance to present ourselves in real life. The internet is a massive waiting room where we are get shortlisted. From the moment you have access to an email and technology, you have the responsibility for your online persona to be as close to reality as possible.