Work out loud. Your career may depend on it.

This week I was surprised but absolutely delighted to be named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices for 2016. Like all of the bloggers recognised this year, I’m not a professional writer, but a practitioner who finds value in sharing my thoughts on the work that I do.

A couple of years ago I blogged about Why I Tweet. But with my long-form ramblings in the spotlight I thought I’d share a few thoughts on why I blog about my work - and why I think anyone who’s serious about their career should consider sharing their thoughts online too.

1. Blogging helps me think

The act of researching a topic, reading what others have to say and formulating my own take on it makes me better informed, and gives me time, space and a process to do the kind of deep thinking I need to be an expert in my field. That research and reflection makes me a better practitioner.

2. Blogging makes the world a better place (sometimes)

As John Stepper notes, one of the main reasons for sharing your work - a process many call working out loud - is to find ways to improve it. You’re publishing so other people will see it, including some who can provide useful feedback, connections, or other things that will make your work better - and that helps other people do better work too.

In my writing I often make the case for doing digital better. In sharing my writing I hope others will follow my advice, and in my own small way hope to drive improvement in the industry as well as in my own work.

3. Blogging makes me a better writer

Good, engaging writing can’t be taught, but it can be learned through reading good writing by others. A writer who doesn’t read is like a musician who doesn’t listen to music or a filmmaker who doesn’t watch films. It’s impossible to do good work without experiencing what ‘good’ feels like.

For every blogpost I write, I read perhaps 300 of other people’s. This expands my knowledge on all manner of topics, but also inspires my writing and teaches me how to write well myself. If you want to blog, read other people’s blogs, then just write. You will get better with time.

4. Writing makes me more confident

Having written a coherent argument on a topic while hiding behind a screen makes me feel more confident making the same points face-to-face with others.

My conference talks often begin as blog posts. The process of blogging takes me from an idea, to a few notes, to a coherent argument, to being able to stand on stage in front of 200 people and tell them what I think.

That extends to other areas of my life too. The response I’ve had to my writing has helped me become more comfortable expressing my views in public, and to believe in myself.

5. Writing opens doors

I started blogging in 2009, with occasional posts on my own site, sharonodea.co.uk. Two years later I was asked to join the Intranetizen squad, where we blog as a foursome, which helps us all to actually finish posts. Intranetizen remains my home for intranet-focused posts.

Then, last year, I’d just launched a new Enterprise Social Network and was starting to think about how to drive adoption and deliver greater value from it. So, while trundling through Bavaria on a train I drafted some thoughts on balancing the need for governance with the need to let things happen organically, in an over-long pseudo-academic post titled crafting the gemeinschaft: the case for grassroots approaches to enterprise community management. I thought I’d stick it on LinkedIn to see if I got more of a response. And it certainly did; it got ten times as many views as my own blog did and a good number of comments. That, in turn, encouraged me me to blog more.

Sharing my thoughts on here helps me to get noticed - by interesting people I might want to meet, by search engines, media, conference organisers, potential clients, and prospective employers. Tweeting and blogging has given me an incredible personal network, helped me find rewarding work, showcased my experience to clients, and taken me all over the world to speak at events.

6. Sharing prompts others to share with me

I won’t lie: I do get a rush every time I get a ‘like’ or a positive comment. But more valuable still are those comments which (politely) challenge or seek clarification. The conversation around my writing, in the comments or on social media, gives me useful feedback, helps me think about things differently, and encourages me to seek out more information, and makes me reflect on my professional practice.

I also share to contribute to a culture of sharing; I share my knowledge so that in turn others will share theirs with me. Building a network requires us to be generous with our knowledge – sharing our own ideas, or links to things that we find interesting, in the expectations that others might find them of value too. Once you’ve built a network of people you trust, you can draw on it. And I do, frequently; social media is my go-to for answers on pretty much any topic.

Yeah, but...

Not everyone shares my view. While reading the entire internet on my phone the other day I came upon an interesting bit of clickbait writing from the New York Times. The author, a Georgetown professor, argued posting and sharing isn’t a productive use of time, and that real professionals are those who just get on with their job - not those who talk about their work online.

There is much irony in a) this chap’s views only becoming known because this got widely shared on social media; and b) it being published days after Trump nabbed the world’s top job in part thanks to his social media presence. But that aside, author Cal Newport is simply wrong.

He says “Most social media is best described as a collection of somewhat trivial entertainment services that are currently having a good run. These networks are fun, but you’re deluding yourself if you think that Twitter messages, posts and likes are a productive use of your time”

Most social networks aren’t entertainment services. They’re media platforms that serve information on almost every topic known to man. Your own Facebook feed might be full of cat pictures - but that doesn’t mean everyone else’s is. In fact, Facebook now drives greater readership of news and blogs than any other platform, and drives billions of dollars in commerce. It’s as much a place for business as it is for fun. YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google, with videos on almost anything you can think of.

Second, the author seems to be equating use of social networks with bad use of those networks. He quotes one blogger saying he feels pressure to update his blog every half hour and argues everyone with a Facebook account feels compelled to run their own round-the-clock media operation. That’s demonstrably nonsense; the average Facebook user spends 20 minutes a day on it and even full-time bloggers rarely post more than once a day.

But what was striking for me was how widely Newport’s piece was shared by people who clearly don’t get social media, in an attempt to mark this as a virtue rather than a professional oversight. It isn’t. In the future world of work, in the platform economy, it’s not viable to say your work can speak for itself when so few people outside of your own organisation will ever see that work.

The new reality is that one’s digital footprint matters; it paints a portrait of who you are, what you know, and what you’re like to work with. As the world of jobs gives way to one of gigs, being able to showcase your expertise to your network and beyond is becoming essential.

I’ve been using social media since long before it was even called that. Since I was a gawky teenager and Zuckerberg was still at primary school. For 20 years sharing my thoughts online has connected me to ideas, places, publications and events that I would never have found otherwise. It’s helped me raise my profile. It’s found me jobs and freelance work. But most importantly, it’s introduced me to people - in person and virtually - who have enriched my personal and professional life immensely.

Reflecting on the last year, I honestly believe my professional life depends on being social and sharing what I do. And if you want to become a better writer, boost your profile, change the world, and simply get better at what you do, I’d urge you to share your work too.

Convinced? Here’s some links to get you started:

• Learn more about Working Out Loud
• More on the benefits of blogging on LinkedIn in particular