It goes without saying that the exponential growth of social media is impacting on our lives today in ways we had never experienced 10 years ago. In fact many of the tools we are now using didn’t exist prior to 2004. The infographic below gives an insight into the volume of use.

Image source: http://www.intel.co.uk/content/www/us/en/communications/internet-minute-infographic.html

As we interact with social media we leave digital footprints and in many cases these are easily viewable by simply using Google. By searching for someone’s name it is highly likely that their online presence will be displayed in this search. The extent to which this is so will depend upon the security settings you have set on any of the social media sites that you are a member of.

By checking your own online presence you can take measures to ensure that this is giving a professional view of you as an individual. By sharing information you wish to reflect you as a professional can have a positive effect on the development of your career and the network you wish to connect with.

Below is a poster which aims to help you consider in relation to your own online profile what you may wish to portray and why. It comes with the warning that having an unprofessional profile may be more damaging than not having one at all…

(Note: the poster may be viewed in full screen by clicking in the bottom right corner)