Facebook

Applications

If you’ve been on Facebook for a while now, chances are you would have replied to some of the hundreds of application requests in the past. You may have added them and authorized many random applications like Blood Lust, Booze Mail, Hatching Eggs and/or the hundreds of others out in Facebook ether. These applications collect information from your profile, remix them and serve it out for their own purpose. Maybe you’re aware of the apps you’re using but there are many that you have probably lost interest in and aren’t actively using anymore.

One of the ways to manage your profile well is to make sure you delete all the apps you are not using and revoke rights to access your profile if you are not using them anymore.

Removing Applications

You do that by going to your applications page and deleting them off your account. If you have only selected to not show it on your profile, chances are these applications are still lurking in the background with access to your profile and usage behavior.

Stop Authorization to Access Profile

To make doubly sure that those applications can’t do anything anymore with “new” information about you, select the Show: Authorize option on the pulldown menu on the right hand side of the same Application Settings page and begin deleting the programs you don’t wish to have access to your profile.

You may not be paranoid about what the people behind seemingly harmless programs like “Hatching Eggs” and “Hug-a-Friend” want with your information, but intent has nothing to do with what actually happens to your data. There is a high probability that your information would be used without your awareness such as access to your friends list, behavior and profile that could transpose to a sea of unwanted spamming and aggressive marketing in the future. Your information can be spun out of context if you don’t manage it carefully.

Twitter

Generally I would advise for serious social network users to consider several accounts to serve different purposes. These can include but are not limited to a business, professional, personal and anonymous account.

Business Accounts

For business accounts the general rule is to crowd-hoard at the beginning and progress to using that account for PR, marketing and support. If visibility is your intent the formula is simple. Maintain and/or grow your audience and continue to use the account for anything from announcements to damage control. The business account angle is best used by companies and brands announcing new products and service packages, but mostly this is should really be a PR channel for businesses.

For larger organizations, there can be subsets of the business account (several accounts forming the larger social network strategy). Employees with special roles such as the CEO or CMO would be able to engage with social networks that way.

Professional Account

Think of the professional account as a PR channel for an individual’s career. These accounts should be purposed for tweets that are only related to a person’s profession. This would be a perfect account to use to announce blog posts related to what you do professionally, also the account to use on your business card and portfolio website. Depending on the type of profession you’re in generally it is best to use your real name for professional accounts. On the flip side, I wouldn’t suggest total visibility if your job involves discretion. (i.e.: Doctor, lawyer, accountant, policeman, etcetera). Those roles represent practices or firm which can be represented by business accounts rather than an individual’s professional account. Of course that discretion is up to you but definitely, weigh the risks and benefits associated to the open promotion of your profession before you talk about a patient’s punctured left spleen or your civil cases as that could be illegal. In other words, think before doing!

Personal Accounts

Whether you are a social butterfly or like to keep your tweets between your friends and family, keep your personal account separate from your professional account. This is where statements like “I baked some brownies today for 200 people” would be best served. If you do not want the world to access your tweets, you can set them to private. The amount of visibility you have on the Internet is completely up to you though I would advise to use a nickname instead of your real name for your personal account without direct references to your full name.

This is not a shady rally (you can do that with an anonymous account)! The use of nicknames is simply a smarter way to minimize the gate-crashing of your personal tweet-party from the rest of the Internet. (I.e.: potential employer/client with Google access).

Anonymous Account

For those needing a canvas to vent and rant about things that may not be socially appropriate, there’s always the option to create an anonymous account where you can be completely honest about how you feel about a host of things without worrying about offending or upsetting anybody who knows you. This option gives your mind the freedom to roam, which for some people is an essential space to have. Needless to say, extra care must be employed when tweeting as you have to consider the damage to your professional and personal life should any of your tweets lead back to your name and face. Perhaps this is a cowardly way to say what you truly feel, but consider the fact that not all your thoughts should be shared with people you know. You would be wise to keep this account a secret if ultimate freedom is your goal, though bear mind that you are not above Twitter’s terms of use and neither are you immune from law enforcement if your tweets begin to sound wayward!

Inactive Accounts at Other Social Networks and Websites

Import all your contacts from places where you are inactive to the social networks you are currently using (manual or otherwise). Eventually data portability will become a reality but until then, a phasing method of directing visitors using a link with a near-intention of closing inactive accounts should be the plan. It only makes sense to erase your presence in places where you are not present anymore. Remember to keep receipts of all the places where you have been present as being aware of your online footprint will help you manage your identity better. Knowing where your accounts have been closed is a good thing as you maintain a macro view of where you’ve been and and how you’ve used the Internet. This will minimize unpleasant phenomena such as identity theft, phishing and a host of other horribly inconvenient experiences.

By managing your online identity, your lifetime experience on the Internet would likely be more pleasant as you minimize the potential for unsolicited flack. It is time to put on your french maid outfits before all that stuff comes back to bite you in the back!