What Facebook Can Teach Us about Personal Branding

I am a frequent user of the popular platform Facebook. Yep. No shame here. In fact, I joined Facebook my freshman year in college which dates back to *insert drum roll* 2004. Eek! Back then, Facebook was a plain interface, straight to the point, and only open to college students.

Since then, I have enjoyed watching Facebook evolve and boy has it evolved…! In fact, I have recently been impressed and really taken notice of the feature ‘On This Day.’ If you are not familiar with it, it allows you to see posts you wrote previously on the present day. Posts go back to as far as the first years you joined Facebook (which would be like 2004-2005 for me). So for example, ‘On This Day’ in 2009, you can see something you posted or even see something someone else posted to your Facebook wall. See mine below:

Now I know you are probably wondering how all this relates to branding and you should. You see, if you go back and look at your posts from previous years or even review just your last 10 posts on your Facebook wall right now, it actually sums up your personal brand. Look at what all your previous posts on your wall have in common. What is it? What consistent message do they all relay?

The overall message, theme, tone and voice are all components that make up your personal brand. Facebook actually made it easy to evaluate what your personal brand is without realizing it. I am sure you will find something consistent from all of your previous posts. For me, it would be my star or heart emoticons I tend to include every time. My overall personal brand promotes enjoying and appreciating my family & friends and sharing inspiration and ways to achieve success. So, what does your Facebook reveal about your personal brand?

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