Design print by newbeautiful on etsy.com

I’ve been giving some thought to how we connect with each other in the online space and after a recent offline exchange saw how easy it is to be a digital citizen who puts on the airs of knowledge in the space by being one of those folks who perpetually retweets the findings, thoughts and beliefs of other people but in person, demonstrates that they rely on the thoughts of others to prop up their identity.

I’m not trying to be a downer here. I’m not looking to call anyone out. I’m just hoping to spark a discussion or gather some thoughts from others who may have experienced this too.

The thinking behind this post might get back to my previous post on Identity Camp and how we self promote and connect online. It also might go back to my participation in communities during my “formative years” and how fearful I was of being stuck with the tag of ‘poser’. It was the ultimate diss for a skaterat to hear that word.

Authenticity is the currency of the web. It’s how we share, connect and express ourselves. Take a look at your digital presence and evaluate where you’re at.

Do you have a website? Is it listed in your Twitter bio? Do you still track analytics on your personal site or has this gone by the wayside?

Are you commenting on other people’s blogs? Are you as active as you once were or are you now spending all your time with the blue bird of Twitter?

Are you still blogging and displaying thought leadership or are you spending your time MilliVanilli-ing it up and retweeting everything that sounds remotely interesting as a link? (-50 points if you don’t bother to open the link before retweeting it and folks see that it’s obvious you didn’t read it in the first place).

One of my favourite bloggers is Gwen Bell. Sure her tweets are engaging, but it’s her blog that really gives me food for thought. Much more than 140 characters could ever lead me to. Same is true with Julian Smith and Chris Brogan. What these folks are doing is contributing to the ecosystem and bringing new perspectives and ideas to the table.

Sharing is caring.

I do give a damm about my reputation Joan. During a meeting today, I was hooting on about the power of community and positive connections made thorugh social media and it kept getting back to reputation. How are you regarded within your community? Are you seen as someone who plays fair, who values real exchange or are you a pusher or taker – someone who just pushes their messages to others without any thought to the utility or purpose involved?

Consider your reputation. Ask others what their perceptions of you are. Sometimes the answers may be shocking – but are most beneficial. Examine your voice. Do you sound like a know-it-all or are you truly engaging and kind? SEO is important but I also believe in taking a Self Examination Overview (SEO for those concerned with their reputation).

Check to see:

• How many comments you leave and receive in the blogosphere?
• How often you mention the words ‘sharing’, ‘community’, ‘help’ in your daily vernacular.
• How much you listen rather than speak.
• How often do you smile or giggle?

If you’re not laughing or smiling often enough, then you are either taking yourself too seriously or have too much of an emphasis on the “I” in ‘social’.  Kind of anti-social isn’t it?

I carefully examine how many times in my memory I’ve asked the question ‘Why are you saying what you are saying?”

There is the obvious times we make this statement such as during an argument with a loved one (or those not so loved!) but how often are we asking this question of ourselves online? How many of us are pausing to reflect on what we are putting out into the digital realm?

What are you saying? Why are you saying it? Is your life passion in what you are writing about or are you looking for ego-satisfaction, money, validation, job security, more clients? All of this is OK, we’re human…  but it’s important to be transparent to others with who you are and what you are seeking to gain.

Many of us are proclaiming to be ‘social media experts’, ‘thought leaders’ or ‘subject matter specialists but the truth is that now more than ever we are all experts, leaders and experts. The playing field is level and it couldn’t be more exciting than this.

Why am I saying this? Because it’s easy to get caught up in wanting to be a social media rockstar with a zillion ‘friends’ on Twitter, Facebook et al. It’s easy to feel that we don’t measure up in that our blog posts are boring, dumb or navel-gazing chatter.

I’ve been there…

The advice I give to myself is to not to get caught up in it all. Life is way to short and my epitaph isn’t going to be a digital feed of my past Twits/Facebook statuses or a recap of the number of friends I had on the various social networks. This isn’t the legacy we leave behind to our friends and family.

There I said it.

I’ve been writing on my personal/spiritual blog since 2006 and have found it very helpful in connecting with community and sharing with folks. For some reason, when it comes to social media, tech blogging and blogging about women and tech, these blogs sputtered and failed. The tried and true ‘fridge box is more exciting than the shiny birthday toys’ syndrome perhaps? It’s not that I’m not as passionate about these subjects, I immerse myself fully every time my fingers hit the typepad.

It’s easy to get flummoxed by all of the emerging tools and technologies. Add to that the fact that I’m one complex gal with many interests and you get the picture. A serial blog-starter who could have individual blogs dedicated to music, video games, pug dogs, Montreal, social media, girl geeks, allergies and so on and so on.

Why complicate things?

This site will now be the place where I’ll look to corral my digital fragments.

Lots of great content in here which I haven’t had a chance to fully sift through yet.

JCMC Vol 13 Issue 1