Show Your Face! A Tale of Anti-Social Media
Posted by Mark Campanale on Thu, Aug 05, 2010 @ 11:21 AM
by Mark Campanale, Marketing & Social Media Manager
I know too many people who look like this: 
What if you had an appointment with a prospective client, and 
upon meeting them for the first time, they covered their face; to make it worse, they didn't reveal themselves for the entire meeting. How would you feel? What kind of connection would you have with this person?
I'm increasingly mystified by the # of people who create a profile in the Social Media realm and do not add their picture to their profile. Is it fear of being known?
The benefits of having a full profile are as follows:
1. You build credibility: your full profile shows you are real and not just a lurker in the shadows
2. You build stronger connections: people want to connect with people, not silhouetted icons.
3. You become trusted: a full profile shows that you are committed to the community
4. You are social: Social Media is not for hiding behind a computer; it about engaging others and contributing to communities and the feeling that actually know the person before you meet them in-person!
In your professional profiles, (LinkedIn, Twitter, Blog, etc) be sure your picture matches the message you want to send. Stay away from vacation/party/college photos. As most people are still just using Facebook for personal use (a trend that will balance in the near future), your profile picture can be a bit more relaxed, but don't be stupid; you are still building a personal and professional brand.
I'm curious to know a) if this article helps and more importantly, b) why do people choose not to add photos to their profile?