I love the metaphor which you use to describe this situation.

Personally, I would run a mile if someone opened and closed the door in the manner that you describe, which does not sound at all like a remotely effective networking strategy.

Those who participate in social networking forums should set out a clear idea before they start about what they want to share and with whom. Once this is done, they should either invite others in or otherwise. But inviting others in and then making them jump through hoops in order to register and participate does not seem particularly sensible to me.

Ulla Hennig´s last blog post..Memories and Old Stuff

@Conor, hi there! I completely agree with you. I behave on the internet as I do in person. I am certain it is a direct result of still hearing my mum’s voice telling me to behave like a lady. Or one could say my life just ain’t that interesting! lol! I absolutely think people should exercise discernment in the information they share and with whom. And as you said, write it down if you must but let it sit before you hit publish or you may regret it for a very long time.

@Roland, lol! I love the approach! We can protect our privacy without hiding our personality! I am quite frankly appalled at the location applications that blast where you are all over the internet. As a woman, I will not ever use Google Latitude or any such service that tells people online exactly where I am and don’t understand the appeal.

@Fred, wow! Excellent observation about Sales and LinkedIn. The world is changing and I think we have all had to live with the new competitive environment. Information is fairly transparent and is no longer the leverage it was in the old economy. However, I would rather be the one mastering the tools than pretending the world is not evolving.

@Alex, I agree with you! Be smart but you can’t live in fear. Your picture as an avatar is no big deal but tweeting your home address is stupidity.

And I don’t care if they do.

As for identity theft, I don’t take stupid risks, but I take the same attitude about my house – I lock the door when I leave the house, but I don’t have an alarm system.

I prefer not to live in fear. On- or off-line.

Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome´s last blog post..Creativity & Paying the Bills: Dave Rhodes Interview

Fred H Schlegel´s last blog post..Community Creativity: “Let’s Put On A Show”

“I will never regret anything I do..” he wrote. Then, after a moment he crossed it out and wrote “I will never do anything, that I will regret”.

If you keep yourself to that rule – most of the time, we all have our moments -, then you will be safe on the internet.

On personality: sadly, that is something that people like to keep “out of business”. But after a while people tend to realize that business is people, and everyone needs a different approach. And I’ve never seen a successful salesman who had no personality.

“How are you?” and “How is the family?” are two magic sentences selling tons of stuff – provided the salesman listens to the answer.

Roland Hesz´s last blog post..A long week, but it did worth it

I’m glad you posted this as I discussed this recently with a work colleague.

Privacy is definitely more of a concern here in Ireland than in the US, where I’ve even seen people give out personal numbers on Twitter. Thus when we advise companies about corporate blogging, Facebook pages and Twitter, privacy is an important factor.

I agree with Brad. So many people don’t realise the Internet is a permanent archive. If you choose to rant in a blog post, it will be indexed. If you choose to upload THOSE photos from the bachelor party, they will be found, possibly by recruiters or work colleagues, or your boss.

It’s a great thing that online interaction removes some many boundaries and topples so many walls. However, misrepresent yourself once and it could come back to haunt you time and time again.

I would say above all else, be true to yourself, your brand and your message and please inject some personality. The world is full of grey. Be colourful!

Conor

Brad Shorr´s last blog post..Social Media Squeeze Endangers Midsized Firms