In this day and age, millions of people around the world use the social networking site Facebook as their main networking tool, and I am no exception. I have friends working all over the world, so it is a fantastic way to keep in touch with them, for free. We can exchange information publicly or privately, if we choose, see up to date information, photos and videos, pretty much anything. It is also a quick and easy way to post information relating to my career, such as show reels, headshots, and information about my job, skills and personal information; basically promoting myself. Facebook enables me to search for people I have met through my line of work, and ‘befriend’ them on there, since the majority of people I know have a Facebook account. As far as networking is concerned, this is an invaluable tool, as I then have access to their friends list, which could contain a hugely beneficial contact. I can continue contact with people long after our working relationship has ended, which could open up many new opportunities for me. I am also able to join various groups and pages that will then send me updates for auditions, performances and many other things that are of interest to me and of benefit to my career.
I have also created a Skype account recently, to keep in touch with my friends, although this tends to be purely for the social aspect. However, it lends itself to being used in a more professional way, also. My Blog, which I created only at the start of this course, is great for me to communicate with others connected to this course. I can upload extracts of my work, receive feedback and also chat to the other people on the course. I can also read other people’s thoughts and ideas, and comment on them; I do not have any of my ‘non dancer’ friends on my Blog, as I would like to treat it as a purely professional networking tool. I am also considering creating a private Facebook account, purely for my professional friends, as I feel that would be a more beneficial way of promoting myself, for many reasons.
My main issue with Facebook, and also the driving force behind me wanting to create a professional account, is the lack of control that you have over other people adding things about you, such as inappropriate comments or photos. I am not opposed to the odd drunken photo, or a dodgy status or two, but prospective employers do not need to see that side to you. After all, in this business, it is positive self promotion that will get you so far. But we are all human, and we all like to let our hair down away from work. This is why I feel a separate account with all your professional contacts is a good idea – you can still enjoy the gossip and socialising side to Facebook, without doing any damage to your professional reputation. It is also a good idea to have a high privacy setting on your accounts – the last thing you need is somebody typing your name into a search engine, finding a quote taken out of context, and using it against you. It is crucial to stay savvy and aware of what people can see.
I have had first-hand experience of what Facebook can do to jeopardise relationships, on a more personal level, and while you have the opportunity to explain yourself to close friends and family, you can’t always explain yourself to potential employers. After all, the Performing Arts world is so small, you can guarantee that any negativity will spread like wild fire, and then you’re blacklisted by many people high up in this field.
It would be fantastic if my network could reach only those people who are interested in the same things as me, perhaps of there was a way to group certain profiles together, where we could network and discuss things related to our career and share our thoughts, like we can do on the Blog. This would help greatly to expand my knowledge by allowing me to access other ideas, debates, views and discussions. I suppose I could try and track down people to network with by sieving through any friends my current professional contacts have, but this would be time consuming. And besides, many people feel the same way as me about Facebook, and have high privacy settings on their public profiles, so I wouldn’t be able to trace them easily anyway.
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