Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Interwebosphere - Part 2: A Reader's Reaction

I work with a swell guy named Josh Gibson. Although his sycophantic devotion to Apple is lamentable, he is unarguably a very tech-savvy fellow. The boy knows his gadgets. More particularly, he understands the prominence of the Internet in our hyper-connected Age of Information.

After reading my first post about the importance of our online lives (Interwebosphere - Part 1: The Upstart Reality), he mentioned some interesting points that were, I think, quite insightful. I asked him, if he wouldn't mind, to summarize his thoughts and send them my way so that I could share them with a (very slightly) broader audience.

Although very important, resumes can be somewhat two-dimensional or flat. A resume simply gives a representation of an individual up until a specific point in time. It is static. An online presence, on the other hand, establishes an identity. It goes further in the sense that it can show depth in an individual. A well-kept blog, portfolio, or professional website communicates a much broader feel of a person. It shows time in a way a resume cannot. It can show devotion, professionalism, and passion. It is three-dimensional, even more human in a sense. Yes, finding jobs as a creative professional in today’s world can be challenging. However, it quickly becomes impossible when an online presence is not maintained and utilized. 
This should go without saying, but unfortunately it doesn’t. Be absolutely positive your online presence is professional and appropriate for whichever industry you choose to pursue. Nothing will destroy a job opportunity more than a “ilovehotbabes29@hotmail.com” email address or a YouTube video of you vomiting after failing to complete the gallon challenge at a friend’s birthday party. Think before you upload. Quality over quantity.

What do you think? Is he overstating his case? Understating it? Please share your thoughts in the comments below. (As an aside: If you think that this whole thing is just too obvious to dwell on, it means you should probably bring this up with people who don't.)

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I hope it also "goes without saying" that if you find anything in this post valuable, you should feel free to share it with others. And the magic of technology makes it easy!

3 comments:

  1. Absolutely--I mean, do you really want a permanent history on line of every idiotic thing you've ever done or thought? There's a tendency to treat this medium like a camera or home movie w/an assumption that only the people you invite will see it. Good idea to picture how embarrassed you'd feel if "______" ever saw you doing or saying "_______" before you upload a thing....

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  2. The problem is that your online presence can't be entirely controlled by you. We've seen numerous examples of people being tagged in embarrassing photos on Facebook. Even if you're not on Facebook, your name can still be used. There's nothing really that you can do about it.

    I think this needs to become a "common courtesy" issue, where there's a general consensus that posting photos and other information of others online without their permission should simply be seen as rude, and worthy of appropriate social consequences.

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  3. That's a good point. I think that those kinds of social moors will start to coalesce over time, as more people become aware of the importance of their online image, and actively interact with others to control it.

    Of course, there will always be a huge difference between what people say or post about you, and what you say or post about yourself.

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