Your Brand in the World of Digital Intimacy

At a recent personal branding seminar, I identified Twitter as one of my favorite brands. This drew blank stares from people who had not heard of it. On the other hand, it drew good natured but relentless ribbing from those who had; so, I endured their suggestions to tweet my lunch menu and break times, and not to fail to tweet when I boarded my return flight.  Despite the running commentary, people actually did begin to grasp that Twitter, as Shel Israel indicated in his recent Business Week article, works “the same way your local neighborhood works” – conversations about mundane matters lead to real and lasting relationships.

Of course, updates about the seemingly trivial don’t stop with Twitter. You can stay up to date on the activities and newly formed relationships of people in your social and business networks through updates or news feeds on LinkedIn or Facebook – or any number of other social media sites that aggregate information for others to see. As well, your connections get to keep up with you. A big, and intended, advantage of this sharing is the ability to gain and provide information that can facilitate networking.

Such “incessant online contact” drives something social scientists call “ambient awareness,” which is discussed in the “Brave New World of Digital Intimacy,” an excellent article in the September 5 New York Times Magazine. As writer Clive Thompson points out, “... [the] ultimate effect of the new awareness” is that it “…brings back the dynamics of small-town life, where everybody knows your business.”

Clearly this has implications for privacy and for community. It also has implications for your brand. If the power of your brand rises or falls on clear, consistent, and constant communication, then participating in online social networks requires that your brand is an authentic statement of who you are.

As Anne Morrow Lindbergh said, “The most exhausting thing you can be is inauthentic.” Creating and maintaining an image through the countless bits of social information available on line takes work – so, avoid creating an image. Instead, get in touch with who you are across all aspects of your life by engaging in a branding process that will help you gain clear self understanding. This way you promote digital intimacy with who you really are!

Cross-posted at Threshold Consulting Blog.

Comments

[Mike]

I happened upon this post via my google alerts function. I really enjoyed this post and the points are well made. Maintain your on-line community is pretty daunting, and its helps if you do not have a false image to maintain.

I have gained a huge benefit from my social media activities (Facebook and LinkedIn) have a twitter account but have not ventured into this arena yet. I guess I am with those folks that were ragging you about lunch and the plane etc, but I am sure I will give in at some point.

Enjoyed you blog styling as well!

[Paul Copcutt - Square Peg]

Walter - it was great to meet you - or was it 'Tweet" you??!! (LOL)

Seriously the great thing was that you identifed your brand preference and lived your brand during the seminar - keep tweeting!

[Walter Akana]

@Mike: Thanks for your terrific feedback! I’m glad you enjoyed the post. I had fun writing it and glad to know it delivered some value. You’re right that it can be daunting to maintain an online community, and the challenge grows in maintaining presence even in our general communities. So, being who you are is a whole lot easier! I think it’s also worth adding this: if being who you are also contributes in positive ways to your communities, then you can’t help but foster intimacy and connection.

@Paul: It was great meeting you too! By the way, it’s actually common for Twitter users to get together at “Tweet Ups” – so, it’s fair to say, “Great to Tweet you, finally, in person.” Also, Paul, you do raise a very interesting idea: while we work hard to extract, express, and exude our own personal brands, our brands seem to become intertwined with our favorite products and services – creating a sort of “branded brand.” I’ll definitely keep logged on to Twitter on my MacBook, but not while driving my BMW! Great to be working with you on this terrific project!