If you are a fintech expert, fintech staff or a fintech company, you will agree with me that fintech is one of the most sensitive industries to work in, as well as the general financial industry. People love their money so much and guide their data jealously, so they are very much also concerned about who handles and manages them. So, if you really want to keep your clients or your job, your reputation and safety online is very important and should be properly taken care of.
Search your name on Google and with one click of the mouse, your social media profile emerges. That is basically a digital portrayal of who you are. Who you represent yourself as on social media. Social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have really changed how we communicate with each other, bringing people who are miles apart closer together. While you treat your social media pages as your agony aunts, life journals and event diaries, do you ever stop to think about the billions of people that are privy to the information posted online? You are glued to your computer screen regularly posting pictures of yourself and friends. On the other hand, they (your friends) are also busy updating on their walls, so that your other friends can share your experiences. Furthermore, people have the prerogative to share anything related to you on these platforms, even without your consent. Oblivious of digital permanence. These images that we upload on the Internet, remain there long after we are gone. Your social page knows your birthday, family tree and relationship status. Many get a false sense of courage and security behind a laptop clicking keys with the Dutch courage, forgetting that they are not just addressing their friends or enemies, but an entire audience that could be as vast as the starry skyline. One should treat all their social media networks as they do their Curriculum Vitae. Human resource firms, for example, need only to click into LinkedIn to look up your profile. Luckily, LinkedIn is designed in such a way that it is tailored to present you as professional as possible, hence the personal profile and key skills sections, which give you a gleaming platform to humbly brag about your attributes and achievements. It even has a space designed for recommendations from others. A slot where they talk good about you.
Sites like Facebook and Twitter, on the other hand, are not created with the same professional aim in mind. They were started as social entities, which could link families and friends anywhere in the world while making new friends. Your constant use of it make theses sites the very first items that pop up when your name is entered into a search engine. If your Twitter account is open to the general public, anyone can pull your tweets from the search engine as if they were fliers in a public service vehicle. Let us not even get started on the images section. Remember those pictures you were tagged in after a crazy night of partying? Sure, it was insane fun, but is it something you want millions of people to be privy to? One has to be moderate with their thoughts when online and cut down on anything that may cause bias against you. Human beings are being subjective. We live in a liberal world thus social media has left us exposed. Thus, if you write on your Curriculum Vitae that you are a good listener and work well with others, but your Facebook page is full of slander, your potential employer and followers will be able to read this trait from you, affecting their overall perception of you.
As a Fintech Expert, setting up Google alerts to notify you anytime your name, or those of your loved ones receive increased action in cyberspace, could be a very good way to keep track of your online reputation. Another key aspect that should come to your attention is the privacy setting on social media sites. They exist for a variety of reason. You should explore them since they are tailor made for anyone and also view your public profile so as see yourself digitally through the eyes of the world. Sites such as Facebook tend to edit their privacy policies, thus check on your settings regularly to ensure you have not left yourself open and vulnerable. The ‘About Me’ section is not filed under oath. You do not need to write the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Limit the amount of personal information you put on there. Screen the friend’s requests or followers you receive. Do not feel duty bound to accept all friend requests and to respond to messages from persons you do not deem fit, especially if it’s a private page. Keep in mind that those 2,000 plus friends can use your information for anything they deem fit, with or without your consent. Sharing inappropriate photos, posting messages that promote things like racism and slander may affect your chances of getting that job you have always wished to have. You put in a lot when creating you as your own brand so do not let the click of a mouse, ruin it. Use social media intelligently.
Also as a Fintech Company or fintech expert, constantly check your website or company mentions and reviews on blogs and other websites, if you have any good thing or good news to share with the public, don’t fail to share it, it will help keep your business in the mind of the public with good impressions. Use tools like Mentionlytics.com. Checkout TechBullion on this list of Top 80 Fintech Blogs.
