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Are You Relevant?

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I was talking to a friend a few weeks ago. The idea of: “Are you relevant?” came up. I am not that old, but I have started to feel like being relevant is now very crucial to staying fresh and current in the workplace. Things change every single day. Most of these changes have to do with technology. Do you have the latest smartphone? Does it have the newest apps? Do you know how to use your smartphone? Have you had it for a few years and are still learning how to use it?

If you are like me there are constantly new things to learn about your smartphone. There are new things to learn about the apps. New technology and functionality. What about all the different social networking options? Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, etc. They each are constantly evolving so that your experience is never the same. They constantly update, redesign, reconfigure your viewing experience. Are you able to keep up with all the changes that happen? Do the social media platforms alert you to the changes, or do you just learn to adapt, or you ask your networking community how they have maintained their composure while they navigate the changes?

I often feel I cannot keep up. I want to be in the know. I want to understand how to pace myself and decide which social media platforms meet my needs, but I find that they are all so varied and that I sometimes cannot keep up with technology and all its evolving, fast-paced, time sucking powers. Whether it be Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Pinterest, or another platform, do they really do for us what we think they do? Would we be better served by just having face-to-face conversations?

Would that make us all more relevant?

Do You Put Yourself Out There?

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I often think about why it took me so long to write a blog. Looking back I felt what I had to say was boring and that folks would think that whatever I would have to say was BORING. In the end, I finally took the plunge and put myself out into the blogosphere. Yes, many might find me boring, but I have also been happily surprised with the response from folks and their interest in my blog. It is a gradual evolution.

As I think more and more about it, I think many individuals have felt in similar ways. There are those on Facebook who tell you about every moment of their day, including how many times they went to the bathroom (you know the ones)! Others are what might be called cyber stalkers. We all have a bit of cyber stalking inside of us. Whether we are looking at photos of individuals we went to school with, old friends, or those you wonder what happened to after so many years.

Whether you over share, or barely exist online, we all to some extent can be hesitant to share about our daily life online. It might have to do with feeling concerned about the security of our life online. Or, it might be that we are not sure we want to put ourselves out there, especially if there is no response from those in our social networks. It is a question I have been wrestling with, for myself and the greater online community. What makes us share? What makes us hold back?

Do you put yourself out there?

Six Degrees or Six Pixels of Separation?

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I had checked out “Six Pixels of Separation: Everyone Is Connected. Connect Your Business to Everyone” by Mitch Joel at the library numerous times and had never opened the cover. I either had to return it because someone else was next on the list, or I had renewed it so many times I had to return it and re-check it out. Finally last week I read it. After getting into it, I realized I was reading it at the perfect time. Had I actually opened the cover before last week I am not sure I would have finished reading it. It is not that it is a boring book, more that the subject matter has a specific audience. The message has an impact to a project I am working on at the moment, and I probably would not have related to the message the author shares if I was not working on this project! It is always interesting to me the timing of things in our lives.

The premise of Joel’s book is that due to the Internet, we are no longer separated (think Kevin Bacon and six degrees of separation). He talks throughout the book about how to interact, engage, and ask questions online. He shares very helpful ideas. In the end I realized how we are all in differing degrees cyber stalkers. We view and watch online much more often than we participate. Such as this fact from Six Pixels:

“Only about 2 percent of all people online actually comment. The question really needs to be provocative enough to spark them to take action. Asking questions also keeps your content alive for a longer period of time.” Page 174

I think that is fascinating. Only 2 percent. So that means that the other 98% of online users are stalking content. What will it take to raise that 2% to 5%? Create more compelling content? Ask more questions? Create a forum for conversation?

I have my own reasons for not always commenting or participating. Sometimes it is time. I might quickly be checking into Facebook or Twitter to read updates, but do not have time to respond. Or I might not be interested in the topic or community and decide not to share my thoughts. Often, though if I have the time or energy, I will contribute, respond, like, share, etc. When I see a picture or an article, I comment if there is something I want to share. This means I am at times part of the 2% and at times part of the 98%.

Why do you choose to contribute online? Or what makes you stay in the 98%?

You Are Your Energy

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We each have a way we enter the room. You might be loud and vivacious. Someone else might be quiet, accessing the other individuals in the room and then slowly open up as they get to know others. Either is fine. It is who we are. We each are different, unique, individual. Have you ever thought about how you leave a room? Not the actual exit of a room, but what aura, vibe, or energy that you leave?

It is something I think about often. The other night I was at a restaurant with my sister, her boyfriend, and Chris. Our table happened to be near the bar, and the people waiting for a table were yelling at each other (a man and a woman) and it was immediately behind where I was sitting. It felt like they were yelling at me. At one moment the woman rested her arm on the back of my chair. It was annoying. The energy around me felt toxic. Chris at one moment leaned over to them and said: “My wife is not your armrest.” (Don’t you love Chris). I love when he is just so direct!

In any case, my story is meant to illustrate that the energy you have in a room impacts those around you. Your energy can also have the same effect online. On blogs, websites, Twitter, Facebook, etc. This is why I love what Tony Hsieh (CEO of Zappos) has created for how he Tweets. He follows what he calls: ICEE – which stands for:

  • Inspire
  • Communicate
  • Educate
  • Entertain

I love this concept. It is something I have tried to stick to with Random Olio. To communicate inspiration, at times entertain, and share ideas that may help others think in new ways. I also try to think about that at work, when I am out with people, and with family. Obviously, I am not perfect, but what an ideal to strive towards. Wouldn’t the world be a better place if we each approached life with how we can inspire, educate, and entertain?

I am off to start my day with ICEE as my focus. Want to join me?

What? What? What? Would you share your Facebook + Email Passwords?

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I had a different blog post in my head today, and then I read this news article and I just was appalled. My two second recap of this news article is that job seekers are being asked to give their username and password for their Facebook and email accounts so that potential employers can look at their accounts and see if there are any issues they might need to be aware of. Definitely read the full CBS News article here as it gives the full context.

Personally I keep my Facebook profile private to my Facebook friends only. To me it is a conversation between me and those I decide I want to be friends with on Facebook. I have been specific about who I have accepted and who I have not. I do not accept requests from everyone that “Friends” me, although others might. If I specifically made my profile public than it is any potential employer’s decision if they want to google me, or look at my public Facebook profile. If I make it private, then I should not be out of the running for a job because I do not wish the company to invade my personal life.

To me it is an invasion of my privacy and a matter of principle. It is also an invasion of your friend’s privacy (email addresses, contact information, and content). I can assure you, I am not appalled by this because I have something to hide. I am appalled because of principle. As it is, the boundaries between professional and personal lives are narrowing. You can do a bulk of work transactions on your phone, or from home, blurring the lines between your day job and your personal life. Is it too much to ask to have a few places that are sacred for your personal life? Maybe at the office you are a manager with a principled and driven approach to managing your team, yet on Facebook a softer side of you shows with comments regarding friend’s babies. Maybe that is not the side of you, that you want the office to see, so you purposely did not friend folks from work so you could have a life and friends separate from work.

What will be next? Will employers ask for passwords for our checking accounts and our credit cards to see what we purchase? How about our library card accounts to see what we are reading? I have many issues with anyone asking for a password for any account. For one thing, many of us use the same password for multiple accounts, so how is it even legal to ask for this type of private information? Another issue I have, is where is the privacy of our personal lives? Does the potential employer need to know that your good friend just died and your Facebook friends have been consoling you? No. You might have been just trying to keep it together each day as you work through the loss of your friend. Is that the potential employers business? No. Why would it ever be okay for a potential employer to have access to your email account, where you may receive emails from your bank, credit card company, mom, sister, etc.?

Maybe what is needed is not so much focus on social media and job seekers, but for employers to hone the skills of those interviewing to be more savvy with their “reading people” skills to ask the right questions of the job seeker. The interviewer can work to get to know the job seeker as a person sitting in front of them, rather than spending their time focusing on what their friends might post on their Facebook wall. What did employers do before Facebook and Twitter? Has Facebook become such a view into a person, that it overpowers the skills and experience of the job seeker?

Please read today’s CBS article. For more information about legislation in Illinois, here are more details, and in Maryland, here are more details. Both states are working to pass legislation that would bar employers from requesting usernames and passwords to job seeker’s social media profiles. More states should be passing this type of legislation. We deserve more privacy. Job seekers should not be put in a position that they feel awkward and withdraw their application or that they willingly go along with such invasion of privacy because they have mouths to feed at home.

Still appalled in Portland.

UPDATE ON 3/23/2012: Facebook has released comments urging employers not to ask for passwords.