Leonard Kim lives with his mother in Los Angeles, California. A business
professional turned writer, he has shared his life experience to help improve
the lives of others. By once having everything one could ever desire to losing
it all, he has acquired extensive knowledge about essential life skills and
effective communication. Through his musings, he was named a Top Writer on
Quora, a website with a focus on sharing knowledge and advice, which is one of
the top 300 websites in the world. Oh, and he likes cookies, cupcakes and ice
cream. Puppies too.
Website I Facebook I LinkedIn I Quora I Goodreads
Website I Facebook I LinkedIn I Quora I Goodreads
The Etiquette of Social Media
Over the last year and a half, things in my life changed drastically. It all began when I went from being a nobody, to being mentioned as a nobody by the LA Times. In the interim, I started to notice that everything we do online is of importance. In fact, it was what got me to where I am today. Sure, I made mistakes along the way, but I made them so you don't have to. Within this time frame, my friends Terrence Yang and Vivy Chao invited me out for dinner.
Vivy Chao has an extensive background in education. She's been a professor, vice principal of a school, and currently works as a fellow at the Los Angeles Unified School District through Education Pioneers. She is also a blogger for The Huffington Post.
We were discussing the types of messages and comments that we receive on the Internet and how absurd they are. How some people send us their life stories, while others use cookie cutter platforms and don't even attempt to connect.
Having a background in education, Vivy mentioned how it is such a shame that with how new social media is our education system doesn't teach the etiquette of social media. Then it dawned upon me. With my experience on social media over the last few decades of my life, I had the know-how to provide my insights on the topic.
Thus came the inception of the idea of the book, The Etiquette of Social Media.
On May 15, 2013, I wrote my first public article on a website
called Quora. It was about the philosophies that one must have in order to get
ahead in life. I was scared that no one would ever care about what I had to
say. Or worse yet, people would criticize me. To some degree, I was right. For
all of May, that article was only read by 102 people. I was discouraged. I thought
writing wasn't for me. Then on June 20, 2013, someone took notice in my article
and shared it with 1,000 people. From there, I was inspired to write.
I went from having 3 followers to having over 19,000 to date, ranking within the top 20 most followed Top Writers on the site. My first month, I had 102 views. Now I have a collective total of over 8 million views on the Internet. People called me an inspiration. People told me I changed their lives. But here I am, just another normal person just like you.
How did I achieve this?
By taking baby steps.
These same people told me that I needed to write a book. I didn't think of myself as a writer. But those baby steps I took were slowly pushing me in that direction--To become a writer. Considering that my journey was an unusual one, where I had never in my life considered myself a writer, I felt that it was my duty to provide a guide on how to communicate effectively on the Internet. A guide to help anyone, whether they are 8 or 88, to move ahead in their life.
So I documented the knitty gritty details of what I did to get me to where I am today. I wrote the good, the bad and the ugly. All that I did right and all that I did wrong. I showcased everything I learned along the way in my first book, The Etiquette of Social Media: How to Connect and Respond to Others in the World of Social Media.
What inspired me to write this book in particular was the fact that as I progressed, I started to gain a bird's eye view of our online world. Every small detail of each of our actions became of importance. Would saying a certain thing cause us to be overlooked for a job? Would a significant
other judge us for what we were saying? Would sharing a controversial article make us lose friends?
While I was writing the book, I thought long and hard upon the subject. I realized that poor form was becoming an epidemic. Then I came to a realization. These principles need to be taught to our youth, spread in our school systems and practiced in business environments. So an even bigger goal had arisen: To educate our youth and eliminate poor etiquette on the Internet.
I went from having 3 followers to having over 19,000 to date, ranking within the top 20 most followed Top Writers on the site. My first month, I had 102 views. Now I have a collective total of over 8 million views on the Internet. People called me an inspiration. People told me I changed their lives. But here I am, just another normal person just like you.
How did I achieve this?
By taking baby steps.
These same people told me that I needed to write a book. I didn't think of myself as a writer. But those baby steps I took were slowly pushing me in that direction--To become a writer. Considering that my journey was an unusual one, where I had never in my life considered myself a writer, I felt that it was my duty to provide a guide on how to communicate effectively on the Internet. A guide to help anyone, whether they are 8 or 88, to move ahead in their life.
So I documented the knitty gritty details of what I did to get me to where I am today. I wrote the good, the bad and the ugly. All that I did right and all that I did wrong. I showcased everything I learned along the way in my first book, The Etiquette of Social Media: How to Connect and Respond to Others in the World of Social Media.
What inspired me to write this book in particular was the fact that as I progressed, I started to gain a bird's eye view of our online world. Every small detail of each of our actions became of importance. Would saying a certain thing cause us to be overlooked for a job? Would a significant
other judge us for what we were saying? Would sharing a controversial article make us lose friends?
While I was writing the book, I thought long and hard upon the subject. I realized that poor form was becoming an epidemic. Then I came to a realization. These principles need to be taught to our youth, spread in our school systems and practiced in business environments. So an even bigger goal had arisen: To educate our youth and eliminate poor etiquette on the Internet.
~~
Leonard Kim
Table of Contents:
INTRODUCTION
WHY ETIQUETTE IS IMPORTANT
VISIBILITY: CAN EVERYONE POTENTIALLY SEE WHAT I WRITE?
BE. DO. HAVE.
PERSONAL ETIQUETTE
RESEARCH AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
HOW TO INITIATE A CONVERSATION WITH A POTENTIAL FRIEND
HOW TO INITIATE A CONVERSATION WITH A POTENTIAL BUSINESS ASSOCIATE OR CLIENT
HOW TO SEEK OUT A MENTOR OR ASK FOR ADVICE
NASTY PEOPLE. TOXICITY AND ITS DOWNSIDES
THE IMPORTANCE OF SELF-CONTROL AND ZEN STUFF
HOW TO RESPOND TO NASTY COMMENTS
TIPS TO A HAPPY LIFESTYLE, LIKE DRINKING TEA AND HAPPY RELATIONSHIPS
CONCLUSION: START CONNECTING TODAY
BONUS CHAPTER: DON’T BE AWKWARD
Amazon I Amazon India | Goodreads | Flipkart Coming Soon
Excerpt
VISIBILITY: CAN EVERYONE POTENTIALLY SEE WHAT I WRITE?
Throughout the Internet, there are hundreds of millions of sites. Some that we consider to be private, while many, many others that the entire world can see. Sometimes, these sites may cross over and we may not even be aware that this is happening.
Our words have a lasting impact. People will judge us for everything we say. Sometimes, we have to wonder if what we say is safe from the views of outside spectators. Other times, we assume that it is. I want to discuss what impact our word has and touch upon privacy settings. Of course, the safest route would be to carry etiquette through all social media outlets. However, sometimes we just want moments where we can just express exactly what is on our mind.
To start off, we will be discussing the most popular social network on the Internet: Facebook. Then we will get into other platforms, such as: LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Quora, Reddit, and posts written on forums or news sites.
Facebook is one of the trickiest online media outlets on the Internet. It takes a sense of awareness to figure out whether others can see what we write or not. Sometimes, we may feel extremely safe with the platform. That might cause us to unintentionally say something private in a public environment. It can be tough to filter each thing we say to come out as a proper speaking individual. However, the consequences of not doing so can be detrimental.
Imagine if you wrote something two years ago that expressed your extreme distaste. Or something you had posted when intoxicated. What if a potential employer saw it? Do you think that could impact whether they hire you? How about a potential significant other? A friend who has opposing views? Or even a classmate or coworker who you have to do a project with.
Recently, I interviewed my good friend, Grace Lee. She is the Director of Marketing at JobKoreaUSA.com, a Radio Korea company. She also acts as the Director of Special Events at APEX | Asian Professional Exchange, a 501(c)3 which acts as a medium to bring increased awareness about and to Asian Americans through community service, fellowship, charitable fundraisers, cultural events, professional networking and educational seminars.
I asked Grace Lee this specific question, "Have you ever encountered a situation where you saw that a credible applicant was overlooked for a job due to something they had written or done on social media?"
Throughout the Internet, there are hundreds of millions of sites. Some that we consider to be private, while many, many others that the entire world can see. Sometimes, these sites may cross over and we may not even be aware that this is happening.
Our words have a lasting impact. People will judge us for everything we say. Sometimes, we have to wonder if what we say is safe from the views of outside spectators. Other times, we assume that it is. I want to discuss what impact our word has and touch upon privacy settings. Of course, the safest route would be to carry etiquette through all social media outlets. However, sometimes we just want moments where we can just express exactly what is on our mind.
To start off, we will be discussing the most popular social network on the Internet: Facebook. Then we will get into other platforms, such as: LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Quora, Reddit, and posts written on forums or news sites.
Facebook is one of the trickiest online media outlets on the Internet. It takes a sense of awareness to figure out whether others can see what we write or not. Sometimes, we may feel extremely safe with the platform. That might cause us to unintentionally say something private in a public environment. It can be tough to filter each thing we say to come out as a proper speaking individual. However, the consequences of not doing so can be detrimental.
Imagine if you wrote something two years ago that expressed your extreme distaste. Or something you had posted when intoxicated. What if a potential employer saw it? Do you think that could impact whether they hire you? How about a potential significant other? A friend who has opposing views? Or even a classmate or coworker who you have to do a project with.
Recently, I interviewed my good friend, Grace Lee. She is the Director of Marketing at JobKoreaUSA.com, a Radio Korea company. She also acts as the Director of Special Events at APEX | Asian Professional Exchange, a 501(c)3 which acts as a medium to bring increased awareness about and to Asian Americans through community service, fellowship, charitable fundraisers, cultural events, professional networking and educational seminars.
I asked Grace Lee this specific question, "Have you ever encountered a situation where you saw that a credible applicant was overlooked for a job due to something they had written or done on social media?"
Grace Lee responded, "We encountered a credible applicant whom we felt would be an ideal fit at our company. Later, we examined this candidate's social media profiles. He had disturbing photos of himself. He literally had photos of trash and half eaten foods on his profile page. It was really gross. There weren't even any comments on the posts. He gave off the impression that he does not have an organized life. Afterwards, we considered him unfit to handle the professional role that he would have to partake in with our company."
In life, we encounter many situations where we are brought out of our comfort zone. Sometimes, we are to meet with other individuals we know nothing about. Social media profiles have changed the way we behave both on the Internet and in person. It has almost become second nature to Google the person we are meeting, or for the person we are meeting to Google us. Next to everything that we say on the Internet could be displayed in these search results.
How embarrassing would it be if what you thought to be your private thoughts were shared on Google?
What if it was because you were unfamiliar with these privacy settings?
How do we avoid these mistakes?
Giveaway
2 physical copies of The Etiquette of Social Media is up for grabs. Enter
in the rafflecopter below for your chance of winning it!
How on earth had I not been following via GFC! Well now that is solved!
ReplyDelete