Digital Caution & Tools That Can Assist You

Josh Ochs, a former Disney marketer shares great tips and advice for navigating social media in his book Light, Bright & Polite For Professionals. In his first chapter, he shares how social media can hurt your career. Ochs debunks many myths and people's ideas about social media. He reveals that every person on social media has a digital foot print which can be tracked down by any person looking for you online. Companies and businesses especially check your background on social media to see if they are hiring the right person for their business. Ochs gives an example of a woman who travelled to Australia from Ireland to go on a vacation. It specifically stated on her visa that she was coming only for a vacation; however, when she landed in Australia and was questioned why she was visiting, security looked her up online to see if she was telling the truth. They had her type in her personal details into a computer and they found that she told a friend in a private message she was thinking of getting a side job while visiting Australia. Australia quickly removed her from the country and banned her for a couple years. Social media is a very powerful tool but it also comes with responsibility to take accountability for what you post. It is important to think about what you are doing before you post and evaluate the long term outcome.

Additionally, Ochs dunked several more myths about social media in his first chapter. He shows that anyone can access your social media account such as employers who were looking to hire you to fill a spot. He gives the example how social media isn’t a private place like your house where you can keep things personal; any person who has internet can find things about you and there’s no invasion of privacy since you are public. So the way you use social media can in fact effect your career and well fare. People also have the idea that they won’t use social media because they want privacy. But the downside to that notion is that employers want to see who you are and don’t want anti-social workers.

Ochs's advice is practical for those who are thinking to join social media. Apps and websites like Flipboard, Paper.li, and OneNote can be very useful heeding Ochs's advice.

Flipboard is a news app that features a flip action instead of a vertical scroll. You can follow topics that you are interested in on the app via the magazine and news section which are updated on a regular basis. Additionally, for more advanced users of the app, there is a feature called Curator Pro which allows users to create Storyboards. With storyboards users can create "rich, insightful collections that can be featured both on and off Flipobard's platform" (Meek "Flipboard for news junkies"). When users are finished creating their storyboard, it can be easily shared to more popular social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.

Paper.li is another useful application and tool for social media users and especially those who looking to build personal brand. A very nifty feature of Paper.li is its ability to post a daily tweet on your Twitter account. This can help you stay in touch with influential people and get aquatinted with larger social media services. When featuring these influential services in your Paper.li "paper", it draws more people's attentions and creates stronger connections with that service. The automatic tweet feature of Paper.li can also announce when your paper has been updated on Twitter which can cause people to click the link to your paper and become aquatinted with you.

If you are looking to start your digital paper with Paper.li and need a good way to take notes to organize your ideas for your feed, then I would recommend checking out the best note-taking apps. This article lists the best note-taking apps to maximize your workflow and become more efficient. Polled users especially recommend Evernote which has a robust cross-platform support with features to help you stay organized. Microsoft's OneNote is another good option and has a convenient tool to record and write at the same time. I personally use Notability for notes which has worked well for me.