perceptions

how much of ourselves do we reveal online? what kinds of digital footprints do we leave behind?

i ask these questions as i see how people portray themselves on facebook --- is there no worry how what they have posted on facebook will be perceived by the world?

see... the question is this, it certainly isn't possible to have one "persona", if i may even use that word, to fit all occasions. the persona that you present for your friends, may not be the persona that you present to your family, and certainly is not the persona that you want your future employers to see. but for many people, they seem to not be aware that they have all sorts of audiences accessing their pages at different times and under different contexts.

it is one thing to be writing under a pseudonym, it is another when you use your real life name and post pics of yourself on your web pages. just how much about you do you really want to share with the world (many of whom you may not know).

remember, one rule of thumb is this --- do not write or post anything that you would not want to see printed on the headlines of tomorrow's newspapers (got that one from Oprah).

while silly pics of you may seem "cute" to people who know you, your future employers may not view them the same way. and remember this --- what you post today and may have forgotten about in the next few years to come, may be viewed many years later and may have an effect on how others perceive you then because you really just don't know who is going to view them.

very much like the way we dress when we go out, our web pages and what we post on them are representative of us. we are judged by what we post on our web pages.

so...how would you like the world to perceive you?