The days of letting it all hang out online are long gone unless you really don’t want a  job. So it’s become harder and harder to turn some of your more professional connections into personal connections, while still being able to maintain a reputable image.

I’m referring to the colleagues that you can connect with outside of technology. The colleagues that understand you have partial attention and they’re perfectly fine with that because they do to. The colleagues that share the same music, or hold the same morals and ethics about more personal topics. These are peers that are also aware of the consequences of putting up anything you wouldn’t want your boss to see.

A New Way to Use Facebook 

I must admit, I didn’t initially see the purpose of using Facebook within the scope of my tech peers. It just seemed weird for some reason and I didn’t know what the hell we’d talk about on Facebook. Facebook has always been a more personal tool for me, which made it nearly impossible for me to think outside the box.

However, after my rockstar filled trip to SxSW Interactive this year, I found a completely new way to connect with those colleagues and Facebook was the perfect tool. I made so many connections that ended up becoming more personal and sometimes non-work related while presenting at SxSW. However, when the topics weren’t on-topic with my Twitter stream, I found myself looking for a new network to connect with them.

“Facebook Me”

“Facebook me,” ending up becoming the second best way to connect with someone personally. I noticed that none of my most professional connections asked to friend me on Facebook. Twitter was the way to go for them. Otherwise, send an email. Now, I can continue to develop the personal connections while still maintaining a professional light. It’s a whole new realm of peers for me to explore.