Tips on Maintaining Professionalism on Social Media

As there are now a lot of professionals turning to Social Media for furthering their careers, they need to establish ground rules else they may be damaging their careers.

To maintain a sense of professionalism in a place where almost everything goes, here are a few things to keep in mind.

You have boundaries. Knowing that you are now using your professional and personal spaces interchangeably, you still need to define your boundaries. It's important to be careful with what you say and you need to learn proper online etiquette.

All eyes are on you. Before sending out that tweet or pressing that "publish" button, know that everyone is watching. Everything is documented within the internet. Even if you decide to delete it, it still manages its way into hard drives. Make sure to look at your posts from different perspectives. What would your colleagues think if they saw your post? What about your boss? Potential Employer?

Imitate People You Respect. This goes for online and offline. It is important to maintain a respectable character online as it is offline. Imitating people that you respect is one way of earning your own. Aside from that, you also need to respect others online. Respect begets respect.

Tweet only when sober. Things might easily pour out after a few drinks. However, it's one thing that you don't want to be doing. It's the same as waking up in the morning with a huge hangover and a short memory lapse.

Dialog with your employer. Keeping tabs on one's self is one way of improving one's self. By dialoging with your employer, you also get the sense of what is acceptable behavior...for him that is.

Social media networks are places where a simple mistake can ruin a reputation. So make sure you keep on policing yourself.