How personal is your persona--on Facebook?

With the explosion of social media into the public space (even my mother has discovered Facebook), there is now a constantly-burning question, especially for those who use social media to highlight their professional accomplishments: how personal is too personal?

HarvardBusiness published an article last month asking the question, What does your Facebook profile say about you? and delves into the constantly blurring line between the personal and the professional. When companies first started blocking Facebook in 2007, business blogger and podcaster Shel Holtz criticized the move, citing (among other) objections the now-emerged trend of work-life integration. He argues against the productivity objection, saying:

Most employees will not risk their jobs to screw around online. If they spend an hour online for non-work-related purposes, they’ll put in an extra hour to get the job done. That hour may be spent doing work at home, but on the other hand, employees are routinely expected to take work home with them. That’s the nature of work-life integration: If you expect me to do work at home, then I expect the employer to tolerate me engaging in non-work activities at work. The measure of productivity is the amount of output created.

And the Harvard article asks the question: why would offer personal information online, anyway?, quickly followed by the salient answer: "Sharing personal information further humanized people whose roles may otherwise make them seem remote or inaccessible." Just look at Frank Eliaison's Twitter team humanizing customer service for Comcast or GM's Fastlane blog to find out how big business can reach out to the public in a real and transparent way and succeed in chipping away at its monolithic image.

Still, this is inevitably the first question I'll field from participants at a Facebook for Business session: isn't that just for your family and friends? And this will be followed by: how much personal information should we disclose? how personal is too personal? is it OK to post pictures of my dog?

Image by zedzap via Flickr

The answer: work and life are becoming integrated. More and more, in the office we show ourselves as complete human beings, with both a passion for our work and a passion for our hobbies and family life. And as "workplace" is becoming defined no longer just as the office cubicle but also as the seat in the airport terminal, the table at the local coffee shop, the iPhone in the car before the meeting, the home office and the Tweetup networking event, the line between the professional profile and the personal profile has grayed as well.

General advice for your Facebook profile:

• Be yourself. Show your hobbies. Post your photography, your dog winning the second place ribbon at the dog show, your favorite campsite at Yellowstone.
• Have an opinion. Whitewashing is for fences. You don't have to be a jerk to give an opinion; if you create a space that invites and engenders informed discussions, you're more likely to build an engaged network than to make real enemies.
• Share your passion for your work (without giving away company secrets). Let your passion for your work show in a real and daily way. Passion begets passion, and as the Harvard article points out, "Seeing a more rounded person can't help but extend and develop professional relationships, furthering the trust that's crucial to collaborative knowledge creation--the lifeblood of innovation"
• Don't post anything you wouldn't want your grandmother, boss or shareholders to see. An open-door policy doesn't mean everyone gets to root around in your closet. Post photos from the company picnic, but leave out the one where the boss looks a bit tipsy. Mention you are enjoying client challenges, but don't mention the client by name. Share video of your family trip to the Poconos, but keep the second honeymoon to Bermuda private.

What about you? What advice would you give to professionals looking to Facebook as a way to reach out and get engaged?