Social Media

Do Other People Know Who You Are On Social Media?

26 Comments

This might seem like a strange question, but it’s an important one; do people know who you are in all the social media circles you’re in? If you think it’s a strange question I’ll explain why it’s not.


Raquel & Me

Back in March 2011 I wrote a post here titled Why I’m Now Mitch Mitchell. In that post, I basically talked about changing my name in this blog from just Mitch to my full name. Sure, I still compete with the guy who was the drummer for Jimi Hendrix and a particular reporter in Dallas – Fort Worth, but I’m being found. It also worked out well for me, as you saw in my post about Google Authorship.

On every site I go to, that’s the name I use. I link back to my site, as many as possible in as many places as possible. I usually have some kind of bio filled in so people can see what it is I do in all these different circles. My intention, as I’ve stated often, is to grow my influence, as I believe that’s one way to increase income possibilities since I provide services more than products. I’m all over the place online; people might not always remember my name but I know I’m being seen. I can say that because it seems I’m #19 on the list of leaders talking about leadership. Not bad, eh? 🙂

What’s got me talking about this subject then? A few days ago I came across someone I’m connected with on Twitter who I talked to once on a Twitter chat. I decided to see if I could find out more about her. The only link she had on her Twitter page was to one of those About.me sites.

I’m not necessarily a fan of those sites, although I can see the possibilities. It actually gives people a chance to list all the places where they can be found on social media as well as having a bio page where people can learn something about them. It saves on the cost of having to have a website, and if used properly it could work wonders.

However, most people aren’t using it all that well. Some have only an email address on there; how helpful is that? Some might have only a few words here and there; once again, not all that helpful.

In her case she actually has a lot of words on the page. And they tell a lot about her. Only none of it means anything. For instance, favorite colors, favorite flavors of ice cream, what makes you smile… okay, in the context of a blog post that might be interesting, but on an About.me page what is that telling anyone? She does mention where she works; that’s something. But you’d be hard pressed to find her on the website that she links to; once again, tells us nothing.

She has multiple social media pages also; now we’re getting somewhere. Uhhh, nope. Has a blog but no blog posts. Has a Pinterest page but no words and nothing about her at all. Had an Instagram page but, once again, no words and all the Instagram pictures have been moved to her About.me page; pretty young lady but no information. Has accounts in at least 6 other social media sites, but no information on any of them.

You might remember when I took a position on my post regarding whether to follow people as a social media strategy and having no other purpose was worth anyone’s time. I ask the same question here; what’s the point of being on social media sites if you’re not going to participate on any of them? It’s even hard to say you’re wasting your time because you’re not doing anything with them; it’s more that you’re wasting everyone else’s time because you link to these things but none of them mean anything.

She’s not alone by the way. I had the same lament in looking at many of the accounts on Empire Avenue, where people link to blogs they haven’t written in 3 years and other sites that are empty and vacuous because there’s nothing there.

What is the purpose of this type of thing? Any of you doing this, and if so what’s your strategic purpose? What do you think of this type of thing in general?
 

26 thoughts on “Do Other People Know Who You Are On Social Media?”

  1. When I saw your title, Mitch, I thought you were talking about how different we are on SM (compared to our real personality; at least I am a tad different).

    But, still you got something to think about 😉 What’s the use of an SM account if we don’t use it? You are right; that’s why I put all my energy into 2-3 SM sites (When I started blogging, I had created an account on almost every site I could find; There is absolutely no use of doing it. It would be great if we can maintain an active interaction within all these sites but no one has that much time).

    I suppose I have to go in and create an about.me page (I have to have one, at least till I launch my new blog).

    My personal opinion is that we should all focus on 2-3 sites based on where our target audience and where we can work best.

    1. That’s how I feel Jeevan. Truthfully, way back in the day, I did sign up for a lot of sites, but I participated in those sites as well, until the next thing came along. So I do have some accounts out there that I never canceled. But in general I’ve stuck with my main sites, or sites I know I’m going to do something with, even if it’s only for testing purposes.

  2. For me, the main thing that identifies who I am is my userpic which I use on all my public sites. I use it on my blog, on Twitter, on my Facebook Page, on my art website and on Redbubble where I sell my work. I’m Val Erde on most of those though I did mess up on Twitter and call myself ‘Arty Val Erde’ but no worries, really!

    I do despair of people who don’t take advantage of the publicity that they could get, but really I just think that they’re unaware of what they could be doing and – should people like that be reading your post – you’ve made it very clear to them, so well done!

    I’d go so far as to add another thing that people could do which many don’t and that is a lot of people who use Gravatar profiles don’t bother to put links to anything on them. I don’t think they know that if someone clicks a Gravatar that, unless they’ve put info there, there’s no way anyone can find them!

    1. Absolutely correct Val, and I never hook up with any of those people because I figure if they don’t want to tell anyone what they do then what can I get from them? And truthfully, most of those folks never put up a single thing, and some only put one thing and never come back.

      As to the other, I think some people are still caught up in the anonymity thing because they’re either afraid of revealing themselves or they have other alternatives for doing it, such as spamming or being stupid (trolls). It’s too bad because we both agree they’re missing a great opportunity to do business.

  3. Oh, I sure needed to read this! When I first started to stick my toes into the waters of online work I did the same as the previous poster mentioned and started a profile on every site I could find. I also started blogs, let them fade into obscurity, even forgot the passwords to get in and delete them for the good of society! A lot of this was while I was a student and was kind of all over the place in terms of exactly where I wanted to focus my efforts. Lately, though, I’ve been working on cleaning up my online appearance and updating old information so this couldn’t possibly be more timely. Thanks! 🙂

  4. I suppose it all depends on how much you’re willing to share online about who you really are Mitch. I just had a look at my About Me page on Wassupblog and it doesn’t really say all that much.

    I suppose the most detailed information about me is on Linkedin, other than that my bio on most social sites I am a member of are all pretty vague.

    1. Why is that Sire? I know you’ve always said how shy you really are but you also know, and I know this because you’ve written about it, that making people comfortable with you can help sales. Thing is, so many people have these accounts, About Me, Google+, Twitter, etc, and don’t have any real information on them so people can look them up to see what they’re all about.

      At least I’d hope you have some of your blog links on those pages so people can click on them and see something about you. I’m not saying you have to tell everyone what your favorite foods are, but to me if people are going to sign up for all those things and hope to use them for any business purpose at least give the adoring public something.

      1. Oh sure, I have links to Wassup and perhaps some of my other blogs, but I don’t reveal too much of who I am. I suppose I could do that but then I never was much good at talking about myself.

  5. I agree with Mitch about wasting your time if you are not willing to put any facts about you.

    Social media is suppose to be social and if I was not planning on being social then I can think of anything else to waste time on.

    I have a friend that uses a fake name on social media and she has about 5 friends.

    1. Michael, I know a guy who’s been online for at least a decade that hides everything about who he is, yet he’s a fairly prominent blogger; or at least he used to be. Pitched a royal fit when Google+ wouldn’t let him use that name, saying he had the right to protect his privacy. When I said they had the right to set their rules he didn’t like that. Therefore, he’s also not on Facebook for the same reason and pretty much stopped talking to me & a lot of other people on Twitter, where people can protect themselves. Of course I stopped following him as well; talk about curmudgeons. lol

  6. I doubt that people can learn more from social media about particular person that they have never meet, however it is quite possible if some research is done. No doubt it is always better to include as much as possible information, even some personal facts that can be shared.

    1. I think you kind of contradicted yourself there Carl. Of course people can learn a lot about you from social media if you’ve never met; look at how much you know about me, from my 5 blogs and from my websites and videos, all social media, before we ever talked on Skype. lol The personal facts might be an interesting touch, but I think it depends on the kind of personal facts you want to share. Remember my 100 things about me post; I told 100 things about myself but I certainly didn’t tell it all. lol

      1. Certainly, it is not possible, but I guess nobody want to learn everything about anybody, except some teenager that if fan of a pop star. It is good that you mention 5 blog, I have 30+ and most of those I do not actively promote on social media, nor that my expertise is good enough on all those different topics, however this is extra knowledge, even just reading the titles on my blog. Human personality is very complicated and I doubt that anybody knows enough even about family members after 30 years of marriage.

      2. Well, we’re not trying to give our entire history to people Carl. But it does help when people know something about you, especially if you’re hoping to do business with them. That’s why one of the best recommendations for all blogs is to have an About page.

  7. Hi Mitch!

    Truth be told, your given name can uniquely double as your digital “brand” —

    I am so glad I decided to use my real name! When twitter and facebook “took off” I tried to sign up, only to find (to my sheer delight) that I had previously signed up (and promptly forgotten) with both services soon after they came online! Unfortunately, I “lost” my name on MySpace when I let the account go dormant for awhile, but did eventually get back on as “the real Dave Lucas” – last time I posted anything on there was around ’08…

    I ran across your blog while trying to figure out why twitter suddenly ceased displaying on my blog. I still haven’t found my answer to that!

    1. Good stuff Dave. Actually, I have a newer post that addressed the Twitter thing so check it out. lol Anyway, protection of one’s name can be important, but when you share a name with so many other people it could be a bit more difficult to get known. Still, we have to try because when all is said and done, as you mentioned, people will be identified by their name along with their brand.

  8. The social media identity is a very important thing. Without exposing our real names and details we lose the trust in the eyes of our potential customers.

    1. I’d have to agree with that Martin, although I think people who hide their names aren’t worried as much about customers as much as they are in protecting their anonymity for whatever the reason is. However, their name could help enhance their business if they’re pretty good people.

  9. Hello Mitch,

    I agree to Martin too, social media identity is an essential thing. Not only your business gets recognized by that but also help us build potential customers. Earlier, I was scared of exposing my real credentials but after thinking twice I decided to use it for the benefit of my business and I must say something’s if exposed is worth it! Loved your post! Keep up the good work!

    Cheers!

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