The 16Things site has included a few prompt questions for this entry...
1. Now that you have a profile on Facebook or MySpace, how will you share information about yourself to meet other students at Ai and start to build your network?
Being 'friends' with people who are at your school is always a good idea. Being that I'm still a student, its nice to know you have immediate access to contact someone in your class if you need to. (or they can get in contact with you if they need to) I've added a few small things that I've done to facebook for people to see and critique as they please which I feel is one great way to get some feedback. I am 'friends' with multiple people from Ai, but not all of them are in my classes when we do critiques. Having the ability to upload my work to a social site and have people be able to give me some feedback gives me a great advantage to better my work and get many more perspectives. In addition to that, it's always a plus to 'know' people. As I mentioned previously, it always helps when looking for work!!
2. Keeping in mind that employers use social networks as a recruiting tool, how will you use Facebook or MySpace to promote yourself to potential employers?
If employers go to your facebook and see a bunch of drunken pictures, chances are they may not be so convinced that you are the proffessional they are looking for. It would be important to represent yourself in a professional manner as much as you can. Don't lie, by any means but you also shouldn't go out of your way to make yourself look stupid! With facebook you have the ability to create 'EVENTS' and invite people to them. Why not have an open house and show some work? Why not set up a workshop or study night or ANYTHING that would get you involved with other people in the field to get your name and designs out here!
3. How will you use Facebook or MySpace to build your professional network?
Being that facebook is an easy site to access, I would say that it would be smart to show some of your work on your page. Showing your stuff for potential employers to see is a great idea... If you can catch their eye with one/some of your designs then you've already added some to your professional network! Finding and getting in touch with companies is another great way that facebook can help you. Keeping up to date with news feeds or following their RSS feeds as we learned about in Thing 2 is a simple, effective way to keep in touch with important people.
4. What interests and personal details will you share with your circle?
I'd say that only the basics should be included. No need to get TOO detailed. Being artists though, I think that it is important to show some of YOU to the people in your network. No harm in showing some of your personality through your facebook! Actually, it's quite the opposite. I would think that an employer would love that they could see some of your personality just from some words typed up on a website. We are artists... Be creative and showcase your talents!
5. How is professional networking different from social networking?
Social networking is for keeping in touch with friends, family and whoever. It's a place to play games, write blogs, talk with people, upload pictures, etc... Professional networking can still involve all of those things, but the purpose is where the biggest difference lies in my opinion. When you are on a social network, it is primarily for entertainment purposes... FUN! It's fun to keep in touch with your friends and post funny bumper stickers on their wall, but when it comes to professional networking, it is all about who you know and how you present yourself. It can still be fun to network yourself professionally, but it should still be done in a different way.
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