I read Penelope Trunk’s blog on a regular basis, I subscribe to it in my reader and I can distinctively remember the Saturday morning when I first discovered it. I spent a good two hours scrolling through her posts and reading about everything from career advice to her abortions and miscarriages. I was fascinated that this woman, who earns a six-figure salary and has successfully launched several internet businesses, would so openly talk about her personal life on a blog that has more than 40,000 subscribers.
To say the blog is controversial would be an understatement. I mean, this woman tweeted about having a miscarriage!
But I don’t want to talk about Penelope Trunk today and whether what she’s doing is right or wrong. That’s not my point. My point is, Gen-Y is sharing more than any other generation before us. Today, let’s look at whether this is good or bad.
About half of you reading this post right now have blogs that you update, often with personal information about yourself. Obviously, I do. I update with personal information about my relationship and my life all. the. time. If a potential client or employer doesn’t want to hire me because of what they see on here, well then I probably wouldn’t be a good fit for that company anyways because this is who I am.
Then again, I don’t write about having miscarriages and abortions.
Here is an interesting article on “The Curious Case of Penelope Trunk”.
Career Girls wrote an interesting post about Trunk’s personal branding style and Dan Schawbel of Personal Branding Blog responded with this:
December 17th, 2009 at 10:21 am
When I think of Penelope Trunk I think of someone who has no fear and is willing to be transparent about her life. She attracts attention by being herself, which is very special.
If you analyze Gen-Y, we (I’m 26) share a lot of our lives online just like Penelope. The only difference is that Penelope’s personal brand is more visible and her life is more interesting (at some level). You could be writing this about other Gen-Y’ers, but her brand stands out for better or worse.
I think he makes a really good point. A lot of us Gen-Yers DO share our lives online just like Penelope – but not. Because, honestly, I’m yet to stumble upon another non-anonymous blog that is as open as hers is.
I digress. The point is, her brand stands out. That’s important in today’s competitive marketplace. Standing out is important, networking is important, networking and standing out online is important.
Google your name right now. Do you like what comes up? Are you monitoring that kind of thing?
So I’m going to quit rambling now and turn this over for discussion.
What is your opinion on Gen-Y’s online presence? Do you use your own online presence to help you professionally? Why or why not? What is your opinion on Gen-Yers who DO share their personal life online and un-anonymously? Do you understand why employers might not like that or do you think that in this day and age it’s silly to separate personal and professional?
Discuss.
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
I don’t use my online presence as a way to help my career. I keep the two as separate as possible, but that has more to do with preserving a space where I can speak more openly than I would normally feel comfortable than it does with keeping things hidden from my employer. I don’t blog about anything that would threaten my job, but I still prefer to keep the two separate. Networking is very important to my career as an academic, but I do that the old fashioned way–mostly in person.
I think people should share as much of themselves on the internet as they want to, but they should be prepared for the consequences–good and bad–that will come of it. I worry about people putting stuff up on the internet that will later come to haunt them, but I think we’re all growing more savvy about our online presences.
Ya, people are finally realizing that if they put something online it’s not “private” anymore. This especially extends to Facebook I think. People are definitely growing more savvy about it because it can be an asset if we do it right!
I only share a certain amount of information about myself for this reason. I wouldn’t want anything I write to prevent me from getting a job. At the same time – like you said – blogging is who I am.
I don’t use my last name in my blog so that it’s not too easy to link it to me. But if you google my name, you will eventually stumbled upon it because I used to have my last name in my user name…
But yah, I could never be as open as Penelope!!
Oooh I like this topic! I, too, read Penelope Trunk’s blog and I really think that with her it’s a case of do as I say and not as I do. I think the rise of Gen-Y’s online presence is fascinating, and for the most part quite positive. I keep my online presence completely separate from … everything! I haven’t told my friends or family about my blog yet, as I want to write freely and find my feet first, and by extension, I don’t use it for my career purposes either.
With regards to those who share their personal lives online freely and un-anonymously, I just think each to their own. I think that there is a line that, when crossed can jeopardise a career, and whether they are discussed in an office or on a blog makes no difference. If you’re the kind of employee who broadcasts details of your sexual life (for example) in the office, you probably won’t last long. Saying it on the web whilst using your online presence to further your career is just as much of a no-no. And this is where I think Penelope Trunk is a ‘do as I say, not as I do’ example/advisor on Gen-Y’s online presence.
As for separating the personal from the professional, I think it depends on a person’s career, personality and how much of a distinction they draw between these two areas in their lives as a whole.
You’re so right about the “do as I say, not as I do” example that Trunk sets!
I am really torn on this subject because on one hand I think that personal and professional lives CAN be intertwined and if a person can’t be who they are because of their job then there’s a problem. On the same hand there are just certain things from our personal lives that shouldn’t be discussed anywhere!
I love the point about Google-ing your name… I do that atleast once a month.
I don’t use it to help me with my career at all – I have one coworker who follows me, but I’m pretty much the only one in our generation at our workplace who’s still in their twenties and actually blogs – occasionally I’ll mention a post if it’s on something we’re talking about at work, like the big anti H1N1 post I did a while ago (being on the Health and Safety committee, I had to!)
I’ve never Googled myself! Although it’s such a common name I’m not sure how much would actually come up
You should try it, you never know! I used to have maybe one or two google search results until I started blogging and tweeting etc. etc. Now my google search has several results and most of them are related to blogging and some of them are even surprising!
When i first started blogging back in 2005, i believe, i’d blog about pretty much anything my dating experiences, my tv shows, etc. It let me connect with other people who i would’ve never had. As my relationship with fi grew more serious, it became more neutral.
with this blog, I definitely keep it pretty neutral because my parents and grandparents do read this blog. My boss knows it exist, but most people don’t read about it, and i’m totally fine with it. It was just an easy way for me to keep my journaling, and hopefully if someone was going through the same experience, they would find my blog and relate to me in that way.
I’ve been asked to blog on some of the deaf web sites, and i just couldn’t do it. Mostly because the year that I did so, the deaf community was so overly critical, because I’m not Deaf with a capital D. I just consider myself deaf. i had no interest in being involved in the deaf community that way.
i couldn’t do it to bring myself up in the professional world, i’m too emotional and personal. too difficult!
It is really difficult sometimes and there are times that I write – and post – a blog post and then think, “was that too personal?” But, like I said, if someone doesn’t like what I write on this blog then that’s too bad for them because this is who I am.
At the same time, there are LOTS of things I would love to blog about and get people’s input on but can’t because I’m not anonymous and it would probably piss someone off who reads the blog. It’s a really fine line, especially when you’re using your blog to brand yourself and promote yourself professionally.
thats why i have a public and a private blog… in any case only one person i know reads my public blog and she pretends like she doesn’t but i know she does because of my reverse stalking skills haha..
I’ve considered opening another anonymous blog, but I just don’t know if I could do it? Time-wise and just balancing my “private” life and my “public” life. I think I would get confused. How does having two blogs work out for you? Is it time-consuming/confusing?
Great topic!
I do use my online persona to help me professionally..but not with this blog. I love this blog, but in PR I just don’t feel comfortable sharing it with an employer. That’s why I have my other blog and use Twitter and such and my real name to help myself out. I totally agree that if a company doesn’t like my blog, then we probably aren’t a fit, but unfortunately, in a tough economy, you need to take what you can get, so I don’t want to hurt any chances I have.
I’ve always been loud and proud about being a blogger in my real life. My offline diabetes advocacy and my online diabetes advocacy have always been connected. My blog has helped get me opportunities to advise companies, speak at conferences and attend special events. It’s really important for my brand to be linked to my blog. That said, my brand is also…. me. Which means I spend a fair share of my time blogging about things that aren’t strictly Diabetes related because dear God is writing about a disease all the time both boring and depressing. So I branched out – but I have to do so carefully because I have, you know, a lot of people watching me know. I don’t like thinking of it as celebrity, but it’s like having all your neighbors knowing what’s going on in your life. You are selective about what you share.
If I wanted to be fully honest with EVERYTHING, I think I would want to be anonymous. That said, I know a half dozen bloggers who have had OH SHIT moments and then they end up deleting their blog or deleting entries. And I think that’s terrible. My blog is not important enough for me to risk destroying relationships that I have. It’s great, but it’s not all that and a bag of potato chips, you know?
I’m the same way as you. I am selective about what I share and everything is PG-rated! Sometimes I want to rant and share my personal problems on the blog; but I refrain because I don’t want to regret it later on. Especially with my blog – that I have linked on my facebook page – I never know who is reading it!
This can be a really touchy issue…the lines are pretty hazy still. I have backed away from attaching my full identity to my blog, but with a few knowledgeable Google searches it’s not hard to figure out. I actually try to keep my blog PERSONAL instead of professional, because there’s still so much uncertainty on how legal ethics rules apply to social media. I am really passionate about politics and law, but I don’t blog about them (often) for a couple reasons. First, I don’t want to be held to something forever that I said in a blog post in my early twenties. Second, I don’t want to get tied down into a bunch of conflict of interest things. In the area I’m interested in, having a personal “opinion” could get me into trouble – I need to be neutral.
I don’t advertise my blog to those in my professional network, but I wouldn’t be worried if they found it. I’d just be clear with them that the only interesting things on there are my thoughts on reality television and cute pictures of kittens…and that they have nothing to worry about as far as my blog being a potential liability for their organization.
RE: Googling yourself – you can set up Google Alerts for search terms…I’ve got about half a dozen set up for all varieties of my name, universities, my blog, anything I think someone might Google to learn more about me. That way I know what others see when they Google me. I would HIGHLY recommend this…
That’s a good tip, I will have to look into setting up Google Alerts.
I dont use my blog with any intentions of having it affect my career. I’m with you! Its my blog & if they dont like it then i’m not the girl for them!
I actually had something happen to me this past semester when someone from my internship for next semester found my blog, where I talked about their business. I never thought it came across in a bad way, but to her it did. So I took it down and also deleted Networked Blogs, since I found out you could find my blog through that.
So now the only thing you can find on a Google search for me is my Facebook. You can’t even find my Twitter through my name.
For me, personally, I’ve had some bad experiences when I put “too much” out into cyberspace. A year ago, I put a rather nasty blog post about my sister-in-law, never knowing she reads it! So I keep a lot of family issues out of my blog. I also won’t be blogging much about my internship, since I’m sure my supervisor reads it. Since I don’t use my blog to network, but to have a place to write, I’m fine with it being a “secret” identity. (Although I do link blog posts on Facebook every once in a while.)
Oh that’s a bummer that she thought your blog post came across in a bad way! I’ve heard of people having bad experiences depending on what they put out there – trust me, I have some family I would LOVE to rave about on here, but you just never know who’s reading right? Better safe then sorry!
I love the online presence of Generation Y
Some people I know don’t have facebook, or do much online because they say they don’t want people knowing what they are doing…but the way I see it, I only have to tell everyone what I want to. I don’t write every thought I have, or everything I do from the time I wake up to the time I go to bed. I choose what I want to share.
For me, the professional aspect is a bit different. There is no way a healthy living blog is going to help me in my professional life. In fact, it’s probably better that my professional life remain separate (some friends from work read my blog, but obviously not the kids or their parents). I google my name frequently but fortunately Kiefer Sutherland used to be married to a woman with my name, so that helps me remain less important in the google world
There are ways to find my blog through google but you would have to know a bit more than just my name. Also…I never write anything too bad on my blog, just in case anyone finds it. I’m a pretty calm person though, I don’t have to censor much for it to remain calm. Interesting topic!
I’m obsessed with this, and while I don’t use the net in a professional “social media” sense, I am very, very aware of what is online about me. My facebook is is all invisible or a very limited profile and I’ve done my best to delete the old profiles from teen sites like myspace and friendster etc. that were popular at 17. My blog is still only semi-anonymous but I’m not too sure what I’m doing about that. I’ve lost interest since I’ve started censoring my writing, so we’ll see what comes about. I’m not too sure what to do regarding things I immaturely wrote in college that I don’t necessarily have control over, or photos other people have etc.
I was thinking about going for a more professional turn with my blog – similar to these Monday Meeting posts but ALL the time. But, as much as I enjoy this weekly series, I think if this is all my blog was I would tire of it quickly.
And really, if we aren’t interested/enjoying what we’re writing we can’t expect other people to!
I keep my facebook profile very limited/invisible but the rest of my stuff is pretty highly integrated into my professional life! And I have gone through facebook and deleted all the ridiculous drunk photos I was tagged in!
Wow, I have never heard of her blog & now want to go check it out.
I am very careful about how much personal information I put into my blog and how intimate I want to get about the details of my personal life. I don’t really like getting into sex or health problems or work problems mostly because I have people whom I work with that read my blog. So then I do find myself censoring what I say. If I had a more anonymous blog, I am sure I would say a lot more . It is already a little disconcerting to Google myself and see what comes up! But this is the age we live in.
Great topic, Amber!
I don’t use my online presence as a way to further my career … I actually try to separate from my career, and post nothing that would give too much away or jeopardize it either.
She has a very interesting website. I think that yes our generator uses the internet a lot but that doesnt mean we write about everything in our personal lives online. I like keeping a lot of things personal. I guess it depends on personal preference. We grew up with computers and internet so it figures we would be on the computer all the time. I (and i think a lot of others) just use the internet as a place to write things. Its like a journal but easier and quicker than writing.
i think people should be aware of how their social media profiles present themselves. I also think that some people’s jobs require more strict monitoring of their online presence and others are more open. Additionally, I was just talking to the manfriend the other day how I was caught at the point where when I began on facebook, it was only open to college students so it wasn’t a huge deal. But now, it’s everyone so i’ve had to integrate my personal with my professional profile. I’m okay with it because I’m a pretty open person who feels I make good judgement calls, but there are times I wish I had just started a separate facebook account only for work related contacts and activities. It’s a tough line to walk sometimes.
Trunk responded to her comment on Ms. Career Girl and her response is very interesting. For anyone interested, it can be found here:
http://www.mscareergirl.com/2009/12/17/penelope-trunk/
It’s such a coincidence that you wrote about this today because I was just talking about this with my boyfriend this morning! An unemployed friend of mine just started a blog and sent me the link today; it’s filled with all sorts of rants and it includes her full name and picture. I felt like this was a sort of careless move on her part as a job seeker because if prospective employers Google her, I think it would fall far more into the “con” column than the “pro”.
It’s difficult in these times of overly abundant social media not to over-share–I think we all have a tendency to forget just how accessible these pages are. I’ve always been wary of including my full name or photos in any of my blog posts. My blog isn’t necessarily personal, but I feel like that separation between personal and professional endeavors is important to me.