There are so many things that define us. Your job might define you. Your family situation might define you. Your upbringing and/or childhood might define you. Your financial situation, your health, your appearance, your propensity to give and care about others…the list goes on and on.
Social media forces definition — and a very public definition, at that. I have, admittedly, struggled with how I define myself in the Twitter bio paragraph, and how much is “a little about myself” in the Facebook profile box. It is hard to define ones self in succinct words. There is so much “to” you that it seems nearly impossible to summarize in so few characters.
I challenge you to do it anyway! Don’t hide behind anything, and just put it all out there for other to see. Who are you?
You will change it 20 times before you get it the way you want it. And just when you perfect it, something in your life will change and you will change your definition. Sometimes, it is even good to include an attribute you wish defined you, and then set to achieving that definition.
Defining yourself will give you a sense of power and a sense that you know who you are or who you want to be. This is just one aspect of social media that I have found very helpful. If you have, for your own reasons, decided not to define yourself in your social media channels, then I would encourage you to take on the challenge! Go for it, and see where it takes you.
Great post Naomi – I’m enjoying your new blog quite a bit… and I love your picture with your All-Clad saute pan. It’s one of my can’t-live-without-it things
I think knowing ourselves and defining ourselves – whether as an individual or as an organization – is one of the things people struggle with the most when jumping in. If you know yourself, it is much easier. You know whether you are OK mixing personal and professional or whether you like to have clear lines between them. You know instinctively what tone to use. It’s really the first step in participating. You can’t even listen well if you don’t know yourself and what you want to listen for – at least in one area.
Thanks, Rachel. Those pans are heavy, aren’t they? Hoisting that thing over my head for the photo was tough!
Your point about mixing the personal and professional parts of ourselves is a good one. I didn’t directly say it, but the definition – by the pure nature of it – is a mixture of the personal and professional parts of a person. And you’re right. It’s very difficult for some people to go there.
I retweeted Jay Baer’s most recent post on that topic earlier today. It’s a good one: How to Balance Your Personal and Professional Lives in Social Media. (an inconvenient truth) http://ow.ly/wOzt.
Thanks again for your insight.
[...] I’ve just said is revolutionary. Just a reminder; and I guess this ties in to my “Define yourself” post from earlier this [...]