The Brand of You

Anonymity is almost impossible now.

With the invention and proliferation of the Internet, there's never been easier access to personal information. Your name is all over the net, somewhere or other. The term "to Google" somebody is now a legitimate dictionary entry - it refers to typing somebody's name into a search engine and seeing what turns up.

Like it or not, anybody in the world can find out information about you.

Which for some people - including me, I suppose - is great. If you're a self publicist, you can start a website, a blog or pop your pictures up on Facebook and Myspace for the world to see. If you type in my name in Google.com you'll immediately be directed to something I've written somewhere.

But this ability is presenting more and more people with a problem. Considering that anybody can access stuff you post up on the Internet - what sort of image of yourself do you want to present?

Take the example of Stacy Snyder, a 27 year old former student of Millersville University in Pennsylvania. The single mother of two was studying for a teaching degree and had completed her work with pretty decent results. However, on the eve of her graduation, she was told by her lecturers that they wouldn't be letting her complete her degree.

Why?

Because they'd visited her Myspace site, where she described herself as a 'drunken pirate,' and had posted a 'disturbing' picture of her quaffing from a plastic cup (presumably containing something stronger than Coca Cola.)

Despite the fact that Snyder was then 25, four years over the legal drinking age in Pennsylvania, the Board of Education allegedly claimed she was promoting underage drinking and nipped her teaching career in the bud - despite the thousands of dollars of loans she'd taken out to cover two years of hard work.

Stacy is suing the college for $75,000. You can read all about it here and here.

Stacy's experience is the most publicised, but many people are finding their careers coming unglued based on their Internet activities. Take the example of Ellen Simonetti, known by fans of her blog as "Queen of Sky." An airline stewardess with Delta, her semi-fictionalised account of her life and adventures caused her to get suspended by the airline, specifically over a saucy photo in which she shows off acres of thigh draped over her airplane's seats.

Whether you think Millersville University or Delta Airlines were right or wrong, it raises an interesting point. Now that anybody and everybody has access to your Internet life - what sort of image do you want to present to them?

The Brand of You

Working in advertising, we're always going on about brand. A brand is the blanket marketing concept that sums up what a product or company is and what it stands for. And now, thanks to the Internet, each and every person tapping away at a keyboard is in a position to create their own brand.

But what IS your brand?

It's something that's worth thinking seriously about. More and more employers are checking out people's blogs and myspace pages before hiring them. Your current employer, or future one, might not be too impressed if they discover that your myspace presence features a million drunken pictures and poorly punctuated accounts of your drug fueled adventures.

Many people complain that what you do in your own time is your business - and nobody else's. But I think it's a fair comment that as soon as you start posting it on the Internet and 'advertising' it to the world - you've crossed the line from 'private' into 'public.'

In Stacy Snyder's case, I think Millersville University was unfair to have disqualified her from graduating. Nobody's under any illusion that all teachers at tee-total - and nothing on her Myspace profile suggested anything sordid or illegal.

But in business, the First Amendment's Right to Free Speech is not covered in the employee handbook. So before you post anything on the Internet, think about what it is you're posting and how it would make you look in the eyes of everybody who might read it. Your parents. Your employer. Your friends and your family.

You have the chance to control how the world sees you. But it's not something you should undertake without giving it some serious thought.

Happy branding!