Talk about transparency, these days you can get right to the guts, see how someone’s heart beats, their inner most thoughts, their private lives, even lives we don’t even know we have.
It takes a bit of getting used to at times, but really with everything from surveillance cameras, to GPS, to facebook and twitter, everyone is watching everyone and everyone can pretty well find out just about anything about anyone.
It’s all packed there deep in the history of your computer anyway.
And my point is….
There is no use having a careful strategy about h ow you occur in the world, a planned out persona, a presence online, in your marketing, or where ever. It has to be you, through and through. As a 40 something, and someone who likes to think they are pretty open, baring my soul, or at least chatting about my soul, good and bad, sure does take some getting used to.
Honest and open communication? It does take a bit of getting used to. I’ve just read What Would Google Do? Here Jeff Jarvis talks about how making mistakes and being public about it is where we head today. Truth is a work in progress in this collaborative world.
I like the idea, but it still takes some getting used to. But today when truth and fiction blur constantly and we can always see the strings of the puppets, and are used to that, then it is more than time to give up getting it right. There is an art to getting it wrong. This guy Chris, a blogging expert, and excuse my clumsiness writing around links, reckons we have to break through ‘feedback fear’.
So its time to create a great story around yourself, warts and all, the beauty of your flaws, but being visible and transparent, is not really an option anymore, it’s a necessity.
My digital brand is increasingly part of my persona and as you point out there is a wierd blurring of the private and the public taking form that like it or not is part of everyday life. How do we manage our digital brand? What happens when a Google search on your name throws up links to a similarly named person the other side of the world who has done something despicable. Increasingly our first meeting with another is online, a profile on LinkedIn, a posting on YouTube, a blog. It's all very interesting!