With the spring semester comes the start of a new year and the end of what can be a brutal season of weather. We have completed the first half of the school year, and now it is time to celebrate 2014 style! This means establishing resolutions—whether they are physical, educational, spiritual, professional, or personal—and doing our very best to stick to them, if only for two or three weeks.
This new semester is also a time for us collegiettes to clean the clutter out of our lives. This clutter can come in many forms, and the way we choose to tackle it is important. That’s why this week, we are encouraging you all to spring clean your social media accounts. Present yourself as who you are here and now, and update all of your information to reflect your accomplishments over the past few months.
Here Kirsten Owens, a public relations major from Quinnipiac’s class of 2013 and current graduate student in the MBA program, gives some vital strategies for reinventing your presence on the most popular social media outlets. Let the spring cleaning begin!
On Twitter…
“Be aware of who your audience is. If you’ve been able to garner followers that are professionals or companies within the field you want to work in, don’t ruin that relationship with a tweet about how annoyed you are that the line is too long at Starbucks. Keep your credibility and think before you tweet.”
On Facebook…
“Facebook doesn’t have a maximum character count like Twitter, but don’t abuse this privilege. People tend to over-post on Facebook with statuses that are too long or posts that are too frequent. Only post something when the content is meaningful to your followers.”
On Instagram…
“Keep your Instagram followers intrigued. Try to take pictures in different places, of different things and from different angles. The same old “selfie” pose gets old and is a surefire way for people to scroll past your pictures.”
On LinkedIn…
“Connecting with someone on LinkedIn that you’ve never actually met before can be daunting. When you send someone an invitation to connect, use this as an opportunity to say why you’re really connecting with him or her. Delete the generic ‘I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn’ message and write your own. This is the best way to get the conversation started.”
And from HCQU, a special tip: try Googling yourself! Typing your full name into Google allows you to quickly and easily access public information about yourself that is floating around the World Wide Web. Don’t like what you see? Clean up your act on all of your social media accounts—delete inappropriate pictures, tweets, and wall posts. Remember, strangers judge and evaluate who you are based strictly on how you present yourself to them, and that includes your social media presence.
Got any tips of your own for creating an appropriate self-image online? Tweet us @hercampusqu and let us know! Just be sure to keep it classy ;)