72/90, hello, world

Yesterday at a public relations summit, the focus was (shockingly enough) social media. A topic that seemed to pop up throughout the day was the use of social media by undergraduate students, or rather, their inability to use it professionally.

This is not the first time I've been told to clean up my Facebook photos and watch what I post about myself. This was the first time, though, that I've been encouraged to use my networks in a positive way. I stopped for a minute to think about this. I follow PR firms. I follow my favorite news sources, a few industry blogs. But I never talk about them. I never talk about my ambitions in the field.

I do, however, talk about my hopes for equal rights–real equal rights for women and actually giving rights the GLBT community, starting with the respect and understanding that they deserve. I do openly say that I'm an outspoken liberal and, a seeming contradiction, a Roman Catholic. I do express my opinions on changes to Web sites that I disapprove of, my political views, my writing–no matter the subject–and my true way of speaking (a.k.a. use of profanity).

Brad, my Ethics professor an a "social media" whiz (he denounced the social media label in a talk today...ask him to explain), Brad talked about the need to come across as a person on social networking sites. If a company only tweets about their latest products and promotions, if they only speak as a corporation, we lose interest. We gloss over their icon in our Twitter feed.

Instead of eliminating the personality of my personal media sites and becoming something sterile that regurgitates the posts of people and organizations she's passionate about, I'm going to keep on keepin' on. I'll make a point of retweeting and posting the amazing things that amazing people in the nonprofit world are doing, to enhance my Industry Side. Out of courtesy for the people that may stumble upon me as an Authority on finding environmental and humanitarian nonprofit tweets, I'll eliminate the profanity. Or at least most of it.

Because what it all comes down to, and the one philosophy that Brad and I both hold, is that if a company is offended by my environmental views, if they feel that I am too passionate about the cause of women's rights, if they feel that single-sex couples are not couples, then they're not an industry that I would support in my private life. Therefore they're not an industry that I would dedicate my professional life to.

Because the one thing that I've always felt and that my parents have always insisted on is that I dedicate my life to a career that I love. I'm not hiding my views, and I'm not hiding my profiles. I keep certain elements private to protect my family more than myself... but I refuse to change my opinions for an employer.

I'm curious to see if my tweets and Facebook statuses change from here out. My passions haven't, and my habits haven't. But have I been tweeting about these things consistently? Maybe this bit of the conference should serve as a reminder in this way: It's time to start being more accountable for my passions, to start having a role that's more active than e-mailing my representatives in Congress.