Image courtesy of Kyle Lang
I am soon going to run into the struggle between personal and professional. I'm realizing that the online presence I have is going to become a bit of an issue as I will need to "brand" myself and my services soon. Also, I am using personal tools to execute on a professional project. This won't do. Some of you who have followed the blog in the past may notice that the name of the blog has changed.
When I set up this blog as a place to contemplate identity and social roles, I didn't foresee the direction my life might move. When I logged into the blog the other day, I realized that its title might be off-putting to people who might try to find me professionally somewhere down the line. As a result, a fracturing must occur. I must separate my personal online presence from the professional one.
This will result in "channels" of online identity. Places where one may find the professional side of me and one where you may find the personal side of me. The two must play nicely, like siblings within a family, but they are allowed to be their own separate beings. The two must represent the family well, but each is allowed a distinctive voice that contributes to the family's larger image.
I won't be posting much more about the technical side of my future endeavor, but I will be talking about the challenges this new role will bring to me personally. I don't want to bog down my friends and family with too much of the technical and professional, and I don't want future clients to have to wade through family photos in an attempt to find me and my services online. I'll have channels for each, and each will have their own voice.
It's a one of many new challenges that will arise in the coming months, but one that I am eager to explore in the near future.
Welcome to the world of adults.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jan, and here I thought I'd been a grown up all this time.
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