What Does Your Social Media Activity Say About You?

One of my friends on Facebook recently shared this article published by Inc.com, “Mark Cuban: The Big Mistake You Don’t Know You’re Making on Social Media.”  Although it was created nearly a year ago, the message is timeless.  Social media, for better or worse, has given its users a voice and the freedom to decide how to use the platforms.  Mark Cuban warns, “In the future, these digital profiles will provide more information on a person’s proclivities than just about any other current source of Big Data aggregation available.  So you’d better start thinking how to clean up your posts.”  What does your social brand say about you? If everything you posted or endorsed on the web was aggregated and used to create your profile, what would it look like?

Whether you’re are a Facebook OG, one of Twitters first tweeters, one of Instagrams first gramers or new to the social media game, every time you log in you are afforded the power to  influence the social stratosphere and build your personal brand. Every photo, video, meme, article, political figure, person, brand, organization etc. you endorse (follow, friend, post, like, tweet, retweet, favorite, share, gram, regram etc.) defines you.  As Cuban points out this data can be aggregated, ran through algorithms and used to create a digital footprint.  This information can be used by businesses, employers, and anyone in search of psychological profiles.  We don’t know who’s silently judging, analyzing and making decisions about our content without our knowledge.

So what can we do?  We can dump social media all together (not practical), invest in privacy apps (like the ones Mark has created), or exercise more discretion and social awareness on the internet.  Discretion seems like the most practical and inexpensive option.

I hope my aggregated social print looks something like this:

Before hitting, send, post, like, tweet, retweet, share, ask yourself: do I want to add this to my profile?

Photo Credits: German Shepherd Training , Brownsville Parks and Recreation, Nahcotta, GoDucks.com, The Shoe Game, Watson CPA Group, Bass Fishing Logo, imgkid, Costume Designers Guild, Living a Life Less Toxic, Love This Pic