One Click and it Spreads Like a Virus

As an entrepreneur, are you a business owner or a brand? Either way, you represent something. Last week I was invited to an amazing professional development opportunity for women. Hosted by Mary Fallon, of Garvey Communications, there was a great topic on social media and where the line of business and personal is drawn.

For many years I put off utilizing social media. Heck, I didn’t even get a steady cell phone until 2009 (Long story, but sometimes I actually LIKE being unreachable). When I began to use Facebook,I never associated with business contacts on it because at that time I was still a reporter and wanted to keep socializing with city and/or town officials to a minimum. When I started The Lioness Group I thought creating two accounts would be beneficial. I had my business profile and then I had a personal profile. It was easy at first - checking to inboxes, building both networks. However, the more connections I began to make, the longer it took me online.

A few weeks ago I had enough – I contacted all of my friends and associates on my business profile and said that I was merging everyone into one account. Why? It not only was too time consuming, but what did I truly not want my business associates to see on the other personal Facebook account I kept? Nothing.

The Lioness Group and my name are not two separate things. They are one. I am The Lioness Group. I am the brand. I represent my company wherever I go at all times. If people looked at themselves as unified with their business and/or employer, it might cut back on all of the trouble some employees find themselves in when they post far too personal information on social media networks.

Writer Ron Callari wrote an amazing article on the situation for inventorspot.com. In the piece Callari writes, “Be careful what you tweet, Flikr, YouTube and update - less you want to reduce your chances of getting hired or landing your next client. Social media is now officially the extension of one's resume. It adds another layer for discovery by prospective employers and companies. After all, who knows you better than your social networks?

“Austin Carr in a Fast Company analysis reported that "employers are on longer just searching Google for information on applicants - they're commissioning companies to do professional social media background checks." To that point, a Proofpoint study indicated that 8 percent of companies have already fired "social media miscreants."

The study also uncovered the following infractions:

• 17 percent disciplined an employee for violating blog or message board policies

• 15 percent have disciplined an employee for violating multimedia sharing / posting policies

• 13 percent of US companies investigated an exposure event involving mobile or Web-based short message services”

Still don’t believe? Take Scott Dutcher, head of the Colorado Animal Protection Bureau, for example. Under the Twitter account name Skinnyhorse, abcNews10 reported that, “He called himself an ‘unapologetic American’ who was ‘anti-animal rights.’ In one tweet he urged his followers to ‘take our country back’ and in another he sarcastically called on people to "eat more polar bears.’ He also went after people he deemed to be too much in favor of animal rights.

‘Success over animal rights is the best revenge!’ he wrote. ‘Meat is in higher demand, more entries, spectators in rodeo, etc...’

Those kinds of tweets brought forward the wrath of many people in favor of animal rights. An online petition is currently encouraging people to sign their names in order to try to get him fired. There's even a Facebook page devoted to getting him out of the job. The local head of the Humane Society of the United States called his behavior ‘appalling.’”

Be aware of what you post online. You have to be aware of what you’re doing. As I shared with the professional development group that morning, my motto is I never post anything online that I wouldn’t want my mother to see.