Published on: Thursday, March 24, 2011
Coping with Multiple Online Personalities
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As a finance executive, I am hard wired to be "confidential." It's easier to always be in a guarded state than to have to actually evaluate whether or not it's "safe" to answer a question, identify myself or share something with anyone other than my dog (who I know won't repeat it). So it should come as no surprise that I am no early adopter of anything social, let alone media that lets me interact with strangers, broadcast to a large audience of folks I don't know, or (gasp) be followed by anyone.
In fact, I guess I am not an early adopter of anything besides the dog. My colleague at ExecuNet, Robyn Greenspan, teases me because she's seen first-hand that I actually still have a VCR that has a wired remote. Yes, believe it or not, I can still manage to trip up guests simply by pulling that cord across the room to pause the playback. Come to think of it, not only is the remote obsolete, but now so is the VCR! I also still have a Nextel flip phone, and there's no email account attached to my Palm Pre (I just wanted portable Internet). It's not that I'm afraid of technology, or even change. I am just wary of investing my time and reputation into anything online until I am assured control over my privacy — and a decent return.
So it goes that until last year, you would not find me on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or even Google. It's not that I wasn't there, but I have gotten quite adept at hiding my identity behind multiple online personalities. For example, it finally became impossible for me to resist seeing my friends' picture albums on Facebook, so my dog Sugar now has a Facebook page. I even uploaded her picture — she's a cute cross between a beagle, Jack Russell terrier and who knows what else. Like I said, she can keep a secret, and I am not concerned about respect for
her privacy.
On LinkedIn, I went undetected for years, only recently going "public," an event as momentous as any IPO. But there, I only connect with folks I already know, and even they had a hard time finding me since it's my professional profile with my full name instead of my commonly used nickname.
Then there's mutterings.org, my someday-to-be-developed website for the benefit of rescue mutts like my Sugar. But you won't find me on any domain name registry because, well, my registration is (surprise) private. I also quickly snagged the @mutterings name on Twitter, but...I make no mutters on Twitter. My email identity is maggnet, and it exists on Twitter too — tweetless. When my professional pursuits needed broadcasting…along came @maggnetcfo. She tweets!
As CFO for ExecuNet, a private network where I can interact with my peers, I've finally been encouraged to trust an online community. I've also learned the importance of broadening my network and meeting new people. I am especially pleased to be able to reach across functional lines with questions about marketing, operations, and address a host of leadership challenges. Where else would I be able to do that, let alone securely? Finally a place that is private! I can be myself without hiding behind
yet another online personality. Perhaps just as importantly, here's a chance to contribute and be a resource for others, and become known and respected for my expertise.
So at the risk of becoming as obsolete as a wired remote control attached to a VCR, I have begun to participate openly (but carefully) in select online communities, where I can connect with business leaders and others who share my passions. No longer will I hide behind those multiple identities, one for each purpose. Already, I am signing petitions, broadcasting animal welfare initiatives and cheering on my NY Yankees. Oh, yeah, did I mention I am a Yankee fan? At least we finance folks can be ourselves! Those sales and marketing executives have to appeal to everyone and hide their true allegiances — perhaps behind multiple online personalities?!
Margaret Pisani
Lessons learned from and about six-figure leadership and executive career management
