Thing 5: Personal Brand

The last time I considered my personal brand for 23 Things for CPD I spent most of one morning making sure that I used the same names in each place. So across the social media world I am known as 'Walker Abroad.' It can be a tad confusing as people may expect my name to be my handle. But Elaine Harrington works in a library and yet I am more than someone who works in a library. I am walking abroad through spheres of knowledge and interests, and the world at large. The name also reminds me of a children's book. The characters said 'the walker is abroad.' I just can't remember the name of the book. It's the down-side to reading too many books! On that morning some two years ago I thought about what picture to use and not surprisingly, for me at least, I chose clouds. Maybe it's something to do with the ephemeral nature of social media or the transience of human existence. Maybe I'm reading too much into things, maybe I haven't quite embraced the need to make myself known. These are things that I puzzled about the first time round as well! At least I'm consistent across all platforms.

I Google myself on a regular basis; it's not just about what other people see but what I'm happy with of myself being available. There aren't many 'Elaine Harringtons' out there. A few writers (there must be something in the name!). I think Google has learned that 'Elaine Harrington' who Googles herself in Cork really is the Elaine Harrington who lives in Cork and not the one who lives in Dublin.

It's interesting then that Social Mention doesn't have the right me at all! Perhaps 'Elaine' doesn't exist in their database as there I'm called 'Edward Harrington Heyburn.' Despite the fact that Social Mention is searching content from across the universe and I've added additional search terms: library, Cork it makes little difference. Clearly the Social Mention universe and I exist separately.

Onto MIT's Personas Project! Perhaps I'll have more luck with this! It's a polite website as it asks for my first and last names please and the countdown begins: 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1...Result: The network is  overloaded! I could start to worry but I think that I'll try it later. How many people from #OxEngage are writing up their blogs over lunch?!

I know the one platform that I'm most dissatisfied with is Linkedin but I can only blame myself for not adding content. At least now that I know it I can tackle it!