Socially Damaged?

For a while now I've been trying to be more aware of my personal brand and working on improving and strengthening it. One thing that keeps coming up in a lot of what I've read on the subject is the use of social media. Social media is something I've loved for years now and I still don't think anyone is truly an expert in it. A lot of the advice I'm reading on how to be social without damaging your personal brand, I actually disagree with and decided to make my own position known.

Have a Plan

I'm a big nerd for having plans, setting goals, and defining things. As part of creating my own personal brand, I felt it was important for me to lay out what exactly I would be using certain social media sites for. Twitter and Facebook are the two main ones I'll be discussing. I decided to make my Twitter account more of a mouthpiece for my work and try to stay on the professional side there. Facebook is strictly social. There's a keyword for how you connect with people there. You friend them.
I try to keep my Tweets relevant to work I'm doing or articles, blog posts, videos, etc related to my work or projects. I think I get some leeway considering I'm trying to build a career in the entertainment field but sometimes I'll stray from strictly career related topics and share links to things involving fashion, interior design, and current events. All things I'm inspired by and often tie back into projects I'm working on. It also gives me an opportunity to frame my influences.
On Facebook, I try not to share so many career related things. I'm usually funnier on Facebook and make status updates about my dog, my musings on celebrity news, song or movie quotes going through my mind, food I've just eaten, etc. I find those updates, as mundane or trite as they may be, more entertaining especially when they come from friends. It's the sort of conversation we rarely have time for these days, especially considering the average person's circle of friends has expanded greatly.
I think it's a terrible mistake for employers to judge prospective employees off of their Facebook account. It's also a terrible mistake for people to restrain themselves and behave completely professionally on Facebook. That defeats the entire purpose of the site.

Monitor Your Accounts

This is actually great advice I've read in multiple places. Be aware of what you're sharing on social media sites. With Facebook, I think it's extremely important to make use of Friend Lists. Everyone you meet in person will more than likely want to be your friend, but not everyone should see everything you post. I have several friend lists with varying amounts of access to my information. There's one group of people I barely know or haven't talked to in years, they can really only see my main profile information. This goes for my Co-Workers as well. I have a list for family members that gives them access to everything I share, but nothing that others share with me, photos I get tagged in, or really anything involving me that I don't have control over. Then there are my actual friends who have access to all my information, posts, etc. These varying levels of control help me stay social and interact with everyone in an appropriate way.
It's still important to make good choices on what you share. Honestly, I see no problem with posting photos from a night out at a bar with your friends. Holding a bottle of beer? Why be ashamed? I'm 26 years old and I live in one of the most happening cities in the country. Let's be real. On the other hand, I definitely would not post photos of my drunken cab ride home from the bars. Make good choices.

Own Your Content

You really shouldn't be afraid to have a personality online. For instance, I share a lot of my personal projects online, some of which would probably make for awkward water cooler chat. One of my recent projects, The 25 Year Old Divorcée probably wouldn't be considered a good example of information to make public. I blogged about my "divorce" and shared stories that were similar to those on Sex and the City. But I honestly have no problem with sharing that content. I would not have gone through the trouble of putting that blog together if I did. In fact, I would argue the work involved in bringing that project to life is a perfect example of my skills. It shows writing samples, videos featuring my speaking and presentation skills, my graphic/web design work, some motion graphics, video editing, and branding skills. All the type of work I do on a daily basis.
Make sure the content you create shows your personality but also speaks to your skills and abilities.

Go Forth and Socialize

I hope this has added some value to the discussion. I would love to hear how you manage social media and what you think about this topic. How do you manage to stay social online without damaging your personal brand?