Gather What’s Scattered. Curating My ‘Online Presence’

Late last night, a friend published this reminder…

“… It's all about your online presence.? If your digital presence isn't painting the full picture of who you are and what you bring to the table… … it's time to take control of your narrative.”

(Note: I condensed what he wrote, and his complete post can be found here.)

How could I have forgotten that simple wisdom?

For years — in the early 2000’s — I was evangelizing the importance for brands and individuals to adopt ‘new, emerging media’ (what we know today as ‘Social Media’)… and to build their ‘online presence’.?

It was incredibly helpful in rapidly building a multi-million dollar business unit for a global PR firm that I worked at.? And it helped me get started in building my first tech company with my co-founder.

Then I stopped.? I got caught up with building.? I got complacent about (in my friend’s words) “painting the full picture of who (I am) and what (I) bring to the table”.? Also, I developed imposter syndrome (which I wrote about, just two days ago).

My friend’s reminder was an important one for me.? And a timely one.

This morning, I met in real life (for the first time) a friend that I recently got to know on LinkedIn.? The 2 1/2 hour conversation we had was immensely enjoyable for me.? We related with each other on so many fronts, and we identified ways for our businesses to collaborate.?

And... I had anticipated this… precisely because we had read (online) what we each were working on.

'Scattered & Gathered'

In response to my friend’s post, I wrote a longer article about one’s ‘online presence’…

I'd like to think of a person's online presence as being both ‘Scattered’ and ‘Gathered’.

When I say ‘Scattered’, I mean that this very person has been fully self-expressed, publishing on multiple sites, and having been interviewed by publications; or having been engaged in community, and tagged / featured by other people on their own media

What is ‘Scattered’ about a person, is harder to find (especially if they have a common name), but often feels more authentic.

It signals that whatever they are doing online in “building their digital presence” is part of their natural self-expression… and that they are not doing it just to build a better resume.

On the other hand, I also find it easier to interact with people who are organized, and intentional about introducing themselves. Therefore, I think it’s a good thing if a meaningful amount of their online presence is ‘Gathered’.

By ‘Gathered’, I mean — carefully curated and organized in one place (or more). A LinkedIn profile page is probably the best place to curate one's online presence, and so is a personal website.

When I look at someone’s personal website, I can somehow tell if that person is doing it because he or she sincerely wants to organize their life online, and has a natural inclination to scale their communication (amongst many things). Or if they are doing it just to sell something, or to get hired.

I favor the former but I don't discount the latter as well.

And so, both a person’s ‘Scattered’ and ‘Gathered’ evidence of work and thinking online are useful ways to better understand them.

At the back of my head, when I'm interested in someone, I'm out looking for both, and I somehow have an unexpressed ideal ratio of how much is Scattered and Gathered.

My Work for Today — Gather What’s Scattered

In the course of my past work, I’ve left footprints (articles, interviews, works)… and tonight, I’ll take a simple first step: Gather what’s scattered...