Gloss:
Since I have taken on an internship and more clearly established my industry affiliation since the beginning of this class, my LinkedIn has changed drastically. I have updated my header and profile photos, my position, and my experiences. My description remind relatively the same, since I felt that accurately summed me and set up my profile and experiences well. It is a little abstract, driven, and refined, which I felt fit well with the persona I want to present as a professional. My header was made by a coworker of mine, and is standard for the company. My picture is also a company headshot.
My visitor map has remained fairly the same since the beginning of the semester, but I imagine it will shift come the beginning of the summer when I move over to more personal and work-related internet usage. Erin’s evaluation of my social media was helpful in developing my accounts throughout the semester. Since I joined the Knights and have developed a more gaming/esports related affiliation, I decided to align my personal branding with that industry. I have a consistent handle across my Twitter, Instagram, and Twitch platforms, which is my gamertag. Since this is the industry in which I am working now, it fits. It may change depending on where I go and what I do with my career longterm. However, I would like to continue in this industry, so hopefully that will continue to remain consistent.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-e-green/
Looking at my visitor/resident map, I was mostly surprised by the amount of platforms where I fall into the category of a visitor rather than a resident. I try to share and be active on platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, ad Instagram, but when I looked at the amount of content I actually create, I mostly share already existing content. Additionally, the platforms where I am a resident are not those I am most active on or would initially think of myself as a resident. With this knowledge, I am going to reorganize my social media strategy and begin focusing more on the platforms where I would like to increase my residency.
Erin’s Evaluation
Sara Green appears to be a popular name on Google Search. A Sara Green even came up attached to a pitt.edu site, yet it was not the Sara I am looking for.
Nothing related to the Sara Green in this class was revealed through the search.
Social Media
Sara has accounts on the major social media platforms: LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
LinkedIN
Sara was easy to find on LinkedIn when I searched for University of Pittsburgh.
My partner’s LinkedIn is very attractive to potential employers in the Pittsburgh area. Her header is a shot of a Pittsburgh bridge and her school and location are both available. She has a good representation of her past jobs/internships with full descriptions and makes it clear she is an ideal PR candidate through her bio and skill endorsements. She also included volunteer experience which many students do not show on their profiles. She is active and shares business articles every few days.
Instagram
While there were many Sara Green accounts that popped up in my search, my partner had already followed me so she was at the top of the search list.
Sara’s Instagram seems to be more for personal use. She is not extremely active in her posting (posts every few weeks), but keeps a somewhat steady flow of sharing happenings in her life.
Sara also has her twitter name in her bio, so it is easy to connect her accounts.
Her Instagram and Twitter user names are different.
She has 515 followers and a grid that does not specifically show any type of personal brand or thoughtful layout. It is an average personal page that expresses her personality to her family and friends.
Facebook
Sara was easy to find on Facebook. Facebook knows I attend the University of Pittsburgh so it tailors my searches to show those nearby me at the top of the list.
Sara appears to be very active on Facebook with a more personal tone to her page. She shares some of her involvement with TED Talks at Pitt as well as with the Panther Relations student PR firm. She also shares a mix of memes and animal videos on her page.
Twitter
Upon searching my partner on Twitter, she was very easy to find. She was the 8th tweet in the search for “Sara Green” and I was directed right to her profile.
The bio of Sara’s twitter directs back to her Instagram page and is a nice flow of the connection she is creating between profiles. She maintains a steady flow of active posting and her posts match that of her facebook (animal related content and memes). Her bio is funny and shows off her personality.
Step 2: Summarize your perception of your partner.
My partner is the everyday student, dedicated to her clubs, family, and friends. She is proud of starting Pitt’s very first student PR firm, but does not come off high and mighty about it. She is a normal student that is active on social media for her own personal purposes, and does not overly engage with those outside her inner circle.
Step 3: Provide feedback on your partner’s social media strategy.
My partner does not seem to have a personal brand, but that is ok. Her pages are limited in her followers and connections to under 1,000 and she has a more personal strategy to sharing on her social media. Her LinkedIN is phenomenal and I see no room for improvement there. She would be well served to add more video gaming interests in her shares and posts since that is a unique part of her character that would be key to showing she really wants to work in the the tech industry. Every major social media profile with the exception of LinkedIN has the same profile picture so she is easy to find. I would say that since she is president of the PR organization it would fit with her branding to change her Instagram and Twitter handles to the same name to be consistent. Someone claiming to be highly involved in PR might want to be a bit more active on Social Media and speak more on business topics related to her specific industry interests. Possibly lean away from the personal and engage with others that share your professional interests on platforms other than LinkedIn.
Erin’s advice and assessment of my social media was very valuable. As someone who has such a successful social media presence, her advice was greatly beneficial to my plans to enhance and professionalize my brand across all platforms. I like to believe that my social media is mostly consistent, but I failed to even think about incorporating my professional interests into platforms like Instagram and Twitter, just because most of that I bring to LinkedIn.
I like to believe I maintain my brand across my physical interactions and my social media presence.I try to maintain an at least marginally-professional demeanor event when I spend time with my friends. I like to believe that you can never be sure who is watching/recording/taking pictures that could end up anywhere. That is one factor I try to maintain across all platforms and interactions. My social media also showcases a strong connection with my family, having posted many pictures on my Facebook and Instagram of my nephews and other relatives. As mentioned above, I would like to incorporate some of Erin’s strategies into my social media to help me create a more unified and brand-representative social media front. Below I will outline my personalities on each of my social media platforms:
LinkedIn: Professional, technology focused, interest in video gaming, showcases experiences/talents, active, interactive, driven, busy, focused, well-connected
Facebook: Professional, family & friend focused, showcases experiences & events, friendly, shows interests & sense of humor, share content more and create less,interactive, updated
Instagram: less professional but still appropriate, family/friend focus, documents academic & extracurricular involvement, artsy, video game focused
Twitter: technology and video game focus,sharing content more and creating less, reserved, interactive
Professional Uses of Social Media 