I don't remember the majority of statuses I posted on Facebook this past year, but I distinctly remember one that was posted on Day 1 of the year. It had to do with not cursing on Facebook as much this year as a New Year's Resolution.
Funny thing was, it was my mom who posted that when I left my Facebook up after getting a slice of pizza at Nonna's. I laughed it off and commented on my status that it got hacked and proceeded to curse to contradict "my" New Year's Resolution.
Time passed, and I didn't give this status much thought. Then, my company trip came around in March. I befriended some folks from work on Facebook afterwards. While it may not have hit me right away, I realized that I needed to present myself better on these social networks - as it is a reflection of myself and who I am.
Earlier this week, I read an article I found from someone I follow on Twitter (@beyondthebets for those on Twitter), and he went into describing a speech he gave to a college class full of seniors. He was telling the kids that the concept of sending resumes to employers are becoming more obsolete. (Here's the link to the article). With all of the searching abilities on the Internet & virtual footprint that many people leave, a lot of candidates can be eliminated with a simple Google investigation.
Likewise, someone who leaves a positive impression can boost their chances of getting hired. Looking at a website that someone has created (highly recommended to these college seniors by the guy) can give employers the chance to see what kind of work this candidate is capable of producing.
With this in mind, I think one of my goals moving forward is establishing my own website. I'll need to learn how to design a site, and I'd like to have a theme to it, rather than the randomness of my blog. I could promote it on social networks and hopefully get a following of people.
Step one in this process is getting my own personal laptop - an Apple most likely. I'll get back into video editing and possibly start creating my own content for a webshow. This is something I will do at the beginning of 2012.
I may look to reach out to people on how to best do this. I know a few friends who I might ask for help - it's always good to have people you know who can help you out.
While it wasn't my intention to clean up my social networking posts, it was (and is) in my best interests to maintain them with some level of professionalism. That doesn't mean I won't post something that ruffles feathers from time to time, but it does mean I am more conscious of it.
So let this be a lesson to those of you who post pictures of yourself doing a beer bong or update your status with incoherent drabble about "This girl is a whore/slut". People are watching you, some who could decide your fate when it comes to getting a job recommendation down the line. When looking at these social networks, people often forget the word "network" in this equation.
I guess I can say "Mama Knows Best" when it came to my initial Facebook post of the year. Thanks Mom.
Social Network Alert
Last night, I posted my 1,000th tweet in my 7th month of being on Twitter, which I started on my first Vegas trip in 2011.
I'm predicting that I will have about 3-4K tweets in 2012 as I wean myself off of Facebook more and more. I think Twitter will surpass Facebook some day. News is broken on Twitter faster than any other medium. I get a lot of news that I wouldn't have ever found on Facebook, much of which is specialized in the areas of life that I like to have as much information as possible (i.e. sports gambling info).
If you decide to go over to Twitter this year, my name couldn't be any easier to remember (@BrianBolek). Most of my posts are sports-related, but I do have some outside observations from time to time that may get you to laugh.
Anywho, hope everyone has a Happy New Year. And once again, thanks for reading.
