Comments on: Phooey on social media privacy

By: Candy

Candy — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:20:12 +0000

Justin – ah, so you keep separate accounts – how much bleeds over though? Do you think people pay attention to DuckDuckBlue? Or just to JustinRyan? Do you think clients truly only follow one or the other? I do have separate Twitter accounts, one for TexVAL.com and 2minuteswithava.com – I also have OffAssist, but it’s dormant because I can’t figure out if I want to bother with it.

I dunno, business has changed a lot in the past decade. I want to know WHO I’m working with/for. Those are the people I connect with. Interesting comments, guys!

By: Justin

Justin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:33:17 +0000

I doubt I have to tell you, but I’m in the “let it all hang out” camp. (Despite vicious rumors of being obsessively private.)

My feeling is, I am who I am. If you don’t like the things I say – whether it’s about my love of shoes, my quest to ride a skateboard, or celery-based fetishism – then you don’t like me, and if you don’t like me, then I probably don’t want to work with you in the first place! (I will admit, however, that I have the luxury of being self-employed, and a lot less to fear from potential clients than an employer.)

I generally try to make it pretty clear whether something is personal or professional. If you want to see my professional work, look at my pro site, not my personal blog, and my blog says as much. It’s the same with places like Twitter – if you want to get to know Justin, you follow @JustinRyan. If you’re interested in business and nothing else, you follow @DuckDuckBlue. If you ask me, @JustinRyan is a lot more fun to follow.
.-= JustinR´s last blog ..Security Release: WordPress 2.92 =-.

By: Candy

Candy — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:28:11 +0000

I guess my point is… if an employer is going to delve that deeply into someone’s stuff as to look back through their wife’s silly twitter account, does he really want to work there? I dunno, I figure it is what it is.

By: Dy

Dy — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:25:27 +0000

The main reason I wish I could achieve separation has to do with the economy. Yes, the economy. After 16 years with one employer my husband got laid off and had to job hunt. While I am pretty free and easy on my own behalf, I don’t want someone thinking about hiring him to find ME on the web, read, and decide against him based on something stupid I might have said sometime in the past ten years.

That said, I think its a lost cause. You’re out there, or you’re not. And if you are not going to be you have to have a plan for it from the get-go; you can’t change your mind later. Well, you can go from private to public, I think, but not the other way around. I know, I tried. Twice.