fessional persona to communicate with potential
stakeholders?
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This article focuses on the use of technology to exchange information and connect with
people online in a collegial environment. Also
known as social networking, this medium is fairly
new to many professionals who are used to faceto-face communication and can be daunting to
the uninformed consumer. However, armed
with the right frame of mind and an understanding
of how different tools work, social networking can
be an easy and effective part of any professional's arsenal with great returns for minimal effort.
Determine Your Objectives: "What Can eProfessionalism do for me?"
When considering all the options
available for building up a professional online
presence, it is important to identify what the profile will accomplish. Some reasons might include:
Publicizing one's resume or curriculum vitae.
Disseminating information.
Keeping abreast of new information.
Providing or partaking in ongoing professional development activities.
Networking with colleagues
Determine One's Own Capabilities
This is the crux in determining how you can
reasonably leverage social media professionally.
Coming to terms with what one's own skills and
computer expertise are can have a tremendous
effect on how quickly any tool can start working
for or against the user. Likewise, understanding
the time commitment each tool requires to cull or
disseminate desired information could render
one's workflow more or less efficient.
Know Your Audience
Just as knowing the audience allows a lecturer to adjust how he or she presents, under-
