Are you able to access social media networks from your work computer?

Not at present, due to restrictions on firewall penetration driven by information security considerations in the financial services sector.  However, these restrictions are being relaxed because third party firewalls recently acquired are now deemed to adequately manage the risk

Does your employer have any formal rules that cover your activity on social networks?

At present use of social network sites is not encouraged for the security reasons given above, but the business is in transition and I expect these rules to be relaxed in future.

Do you use social media websites in the course of your official work duties?

Not in the course of official duties per se.  A knowledge-sharing group I’m a member of uses LinkedIn as a knowledge sharing and networking vehicle, with limited effectiveness not least because of the restriction noted above.  I have to access it from my personal IP service at present.

As part of a project to increase the agility and efficiency with which the organisation uses it workspace I’m pushing hard to introduce web conferencing facilities, but these are typically business-to-business services rather than social networking services.

How do you network professionally?

I have good networking access to other professionals and services via my professional organisation, various special interest groups I belong to (e.g. CoReNet Global) and the extensive supply network (existing suppliers and wannabies) who I regularly meet to kick ideas around.  My limited professional use of social media websites is just an adjunct to those networks. Having said that, I did use LinkedIn to try and generate some leads for a Sustainability Manager I needed to recruit.  In the end I found the selected candidate by conventional means, but it could have generated a result.

Do you use social media sites for personal use?

Yes – Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, and my most frequent and extensive “social media” site, Flickr.  You may say Flickr isn’t a social networking site, but in my experience that is exactly what it is.  Photography is the special interest around which the social grouping coalesces, but the primary reason for people to use Flickr is social – for approval, ego-boosting, learning, sharing interests, sharing with friends and family, exchanging views and opinions.  One of my contacts on Flickr, an American psychologist, writes extensively and with great insight on the subject.  See  http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsuler/sets/72157600001989576/ and http://www-usr.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/psycyber.html

Do you have any concerns over the possible clash of personal vs professional on the internet?

I make a point of keeping my identities separate, but that is mainly to do with the separation in my perception of who I am, between work and personal lives.

How do you identify yourself online?

I have almost exclusively used my nickname, Rowteight, because my surname can attract unwanted attention and spam.  However, even without my surname, I’d probably not use my real name other than with those I absolutely trust, because I am very protective of my privacy and identity on line.  For the same reason I protect (by using nicknames) the identify of the family, except on ‘private’ networks (e.g. friends and family on Flickr).

Do you try to keep personal and professional separate online?

Yes, for the reasons given above, and to minimise the risk of inadvertently compromising my professional/work position or embarrassing my employer.

Do you have any personal rules for topics you will discuss in these places and topics you won’t?

I will not in my personal capacity identify in a social networking site the nature of my employment, or who I work for.

What’s your favourite thing about using social websites and what’s your least favourite thing?

I am hugely enthusiastic about the fact that I can form social links around my photographic interests with people all over the world who I would never otherwise meet, and gain views and opinions from people who I would probably not talk to if we encountered one another in the ‘real world’ where appearance limits so much of our social interactions.

I also love the fact that I’m able to find and sample music from all over the place, which has led me to lots of new things, as well as increasing the amount of live music we go to massively, because we find out about gigs which we’d not otherwise be aware of.

My least favourite thing is the lack of substance in so much of what goes on in social websites (by which I really mean Flickr), and the challenge involved in actually cultivating a social network of people who are prepared to put some effort (and something of themselves) into the interaction.  The fact that there are ‘apps’ which autogenerate vacuous comments on your contact’s photos drives me to distraction (or used to).

What advice do you give to those who are reading this article and thinking about their own web shadows?
Don’t mistake the medium for the message.  Social websites are just another means of interacting with other people and do not in and of themselves generate valuable interactions.  It is still all about getting out what you are prepared to put in.  The real value is in the speed and reach of social websites, which is truly instantaneous and global.  However, guard against overuse and over-networking or you’ll soon be buried in ‘stuff’ and will lose interest, and fail to mine the potential nuggets which may emerge from more considered and focussed interactions.

• Have you got a real story to tell? We want to hear it. Share your stories about managing your web shadow by leaving a comment  here or email it to Antony.