We are all connected. Sometimes we are closely connected, sometimes we have crossed paths in the distant past, and on other occasions we have no recollection of ever having met at all. In most instances we haven’t directly met. However, at some point we are all connected to each other, and that relationship is often closer than we acknowledge.
We are all connected
Ever bumped into a friend in a random location, had a second take at a passer-by in the street wondering where you knew them from, or maybe found that you have a mutual friend that lives in a totally different place? Maybe you know someone who has worked with someone, and by chance you have started talking about them without knowing that you both knew them. These can be coincidences, but they are not always as strange as they first appear. It is pure statistics. We have many experiences during our lives, go to many places, and work with many people. These all act as distant connections in the web of life. People who live totally different lifestyles, live in totally different places, or have massively different backgrounds are often connected by just one or two degrees of separation.
If you take this theory and then add it to your behaviour on social media, it may make you evaluate your next post. Every post or message that you make form part of your on-line brand that gives a deep insight into your work style, your general behaviour and indeed your value as a trusted employee or employer.
Case 1 – Emotions are fine…..to a degree
Have you ever got a bit emotional and got too carried away with a discussion on a Facebook post? It’s not a problem to be emotional or to care deeply about good, positive values. However, if you give the idea that you are going to judge people who have different opinions and are not able to work with various kinds of people, you may in fact be giving a bad impression that you may not even be aware of. This could affect your chances of employment, job advancement or business opportunities.
Case 2 – Politics isn’t everybody’s cup of tea
Keep your potential market as large as possible, whether it is an employer, employee or business opportunity. Most of us have a political preference and many of us believe strongly in the solution to a political debate, whatever it may be at a particular time. We all have concepts and beliefs that are important to us. It’s fine to keep this amongst friends and family, but unless you’re planning on a political career of your own, what is the point of alienating a section of society. It may not be revealed as official policy, but many people will not want to deal with someone who is over-righteous (or over-lefteous) about what is right and wrong. Opinion is subjective and the answers are often not totally clear. If you have been using your Twitter account as a rallying call to dislodge the oppressors or made personal attacks on those who have a differing view to yourself, you may not have given a shining advert about your ability to work as a team.
Case 3 – All connections are good connections
Building up your connections and your network is an essential ingredient for any aspiring individual or organization. Connections that seem very distant and pointless can potentially become life-changing opportunities that open up exciting avenues that you currently had no idea of exploring. Everything is possible, and the better connected that you are, the better opportunity there is for customers, co-working or professional working.
There is a saying that “A cat may look at a king”. It implies that however powerful or wealthy that an individual is, we are all inherently equal and can add value to each other’s experiences in many ways that at first don’t always seem obvious. A single rude message to a random person on LinkedIn can mushroom out across a network to substantiate a bad image for you or your company. It is important to remain professional and always deal with people in a way that you wanted to be treated yourself, regardless of perceived status or role.
The future is unpredictable….
……and so is life. If things are going great now then that is great, and it would be incredible if everybody could reach their dreams, whatever they may be. In reality, this isn’t possible, but if we treat everybody with dignity then the chances of an unexpected deep fall occurring are minimized. One passing comment that you made five years ago that was spiteful or nasty could suddenly rise up again in your own personal search ranking when you want it to happen the least. It is easy to make a mistake, say the wrong thing or make a bad statement in an act of haste, but if you make a habit of it, it could easily become imprinted on the internet as a core ingredient of who or what you are as a person.
We are all connected within six degrees of separation….
……and we are often closer to the random person in the street that we pass than we realize. Some could call it karma, or life-is-an-evener, but the most important thing to remember is, that in this age of the internet and web caching, everything that we say and do forms an irreversible thread in the fabric of who we are and what we represent.
Mette Keller is in charge of brand, identity and marketing at UKDK, and can be reached at kellerm@ukdk.net
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