What is your level of TMI?

Chip Conley, the CEO of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, shared his internal struggle with posting his Burning Man pictures on his Facebook page at http://bit.ly/2qIml5 His pr advisors told him those pictures and his CEO persona could cause a misunderstanding about what is proper behavior. (I think it was his tutu picture that was the point of the discussion.)

Burning man is a one week retreat in the middle of a dust bowl with no food, no water, no showers, no cars, just what you carry in on your back or bike. It is intended to be an “out there” experience and from what people who have attended told me, you will see anything and everything going on at this retreat. When I say everything, suffice it to say, it is impossible not to be shocked at Burning Man because it attracts the freest of the free spirits and the edge is pushed more and more each year. I would guess not many CEOs attend Burning Man.

Which brings the question for all executives: What is proper to share on social media? The challenge with social media is that your personal and professional lives collide and for the “In the full disclosure of who I am” category it is actually a great resource for people to investigate who you are. Everything about who you are.

Employers are looking at social media pages such as facebook, twitter, and linkedin to see what employees and prospective employees are saying. The same goes for executives who are being “checked out” by employees, clients and competitors.

I have a number of clients who follow me on my personal pages as well as my fan page www.facebook.com/russelljwhite2 and they get the full me. But where is the Too Much Information (TMI) line drawn?

Would I share about my Saturday night in the strip club where I got 5 lap dances, had 8 beers, and was escorted out of the club by the bouncer for rude behavior? Would I share my disappointment about my employees letting me down? Would I go on a rant about how I hate Mondays?

Curiously, I have read each of these remarks by people who at that moment were employed somewhere. Is there a different standard for executives? I don’t think so.

Based on my observations the level of TMI has more to do with the age of the person posting than anything else. The younger people feel more open with their expressions and are willing to broadcast an almost open stream of consciousness. Conversely, some executives resist any contact with social media and prefer to remain a closed book. In either case, this is a misuse of a medium that is here to stay in some form or another.

Everyone needs to find their comfort zone. As with all media, there are the extremists on both ends of the spectrum who enjoy the shock value of what they put out there. Everyone has their hot points where they enjoy a good rant. For some people social media is their bullhorn to the world. Just keep in mind each post is an entry into your internet record which has public access.

The best advice I’ve heard about social media postings is to consider everything you write, link, or post would appear on the scroll at the bottom of a TV program and everyone you know or has contact with you is watching.

As a three year old I apparently walked into the middle of a ladies group home meeting and announced, “This is what my daddy does in the bathroom.” And I started to grunt. A three year old doesn’t know the difference between what public knowledge is and what should not be shared. As a three year old doing this, the ladies’ laughter to the point of tears was an expected reaction. What if I had been 18 year old? I image the reaction would’ve been very different.

Some things are best left unsaid in an open forum. As a guide for your social media postings, find where you audience is comfortable with your level of TMI, instead of where you are comfortable with your level of TMI.

Who is in Your Network?

Between Facebook, twitter, and LinkedIn we each have the opportunity to build vast networks beyond those we regularly see face to face. Who are you adding to your network? Why those people? How are you using your network?

The Who

As with anything that can be measured, some people add to their networks just to have a bigger number than those who they “compete” with. I know of one person on facebook who looks for any attractive female to add to his facebook network; obviously to feed insecurity and feel good about adding the ladies who are his facebook friends. Some people use social media purely for a business networking system and post information and comments like Jack Webb of Dragnet – just the facts.

Using social media as a competition of numbers, to feed insecurity, or to simply sell yourself are all missing the greatest opportunity of networking.

Who are the people you want to stay in touch with on a personal level? Who are the people you want to build working relationships with? Who are the colleagues you enjoy sharing a few words with periodically? Online networking is more like a cocktail gathering. It’s about the personal points of interest, the links or sharing of information you find valuable or enjoyable and for some there is a business component to inform, engage, or involve people in your occupational activities. The key is to have a reason for your network and then fill it accordingly.

The How

Online networking is about the mixing of the personal and the professional. Too much business and you are known as a spammer only looking to sell something. This doesn’t work in the online networking environment anymore than the person at a business cocktail party, who is aggressively passing out business cards and cornering people to talk about his latest and greatest ideas. Find the balance.

The Resource

Networking is all about connections and knowing who knows what, and who to go to, to learn about what they know. How are you positioned in your network? Are you the person who is the first to post the funny joke, video or picture? Are you the person who is the trivia expert? Are you the person who sends out great information on the niche you serve? The way to be valuable to any network is to be known as the source for something specific your network finds value in, and to be a good online friend. Understand the rules of online networking, be active, and add benefit. What is the value you bring to your network?