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JWI 505: Business Communications and Executive Presence
Week 9 Lecture Notes
© Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University confidential and proprietary information and may not be
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JWI 505 – Lecture Notes (1206) Page 1 of 6
Digital and Social Media
What It Means
Whether you are conversing with a colleague, leading a team meeting, or addressing your
entire company, you have the ability to communicate authentically and confidently. But how
do you communicate with people you do not interact with on a daily basis? How do you
deliver messages in an environment you cannot easily control, where opinions are magnified
and everything you say is recorded forever? In short, how do you communicate online?
A strong digital presence is paramount to strengthening your brand. You will learn more about
your company’s online brand in JWI 518: Marketing in a Global Environment. This week, we
will focus on your personal brand. When roughly half of the world’s population uses a social
networking website or app, you cannot afford to ignore your digital footprint. It must be
professional, well-organized, and genuine, and it must align with your organization’s values.
In this lecture, you will learn how to present yourself online. We will discuss how to
communicate strategically across different social networks, as well as what to include in a
digital engagement policy.
Why It Matters
• Prospective employees, employers, and customers use your online presence to
learn about you.
• Different social networks can provide you with different opportunities to grow.
• A comprehensive digital engagement policy can align your organization around its
mission.
“You are responsible for everything you post and everything you post will be a reflection
of you.”
Germany Kent
JWI 505: Business Communications and Executive Presence
Week 9 Lecture Notes
© Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University confidential and proprietary information and may not be
copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed, in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of Strayer University.
JWI 505 – Lecture Notes (1206) Page 2 of 6
The Internet Is Written in Ink
Warren Buffett advises his employees to take “the newspaper test” before they make a big
decision. If you are unsure about a certain action, you ask yourself how you would feel if your
local newspaper wrote about it the next day. If you still have any doubts, you do not take the
action. You will be responsible for the decision and all of its outcomes. And as you learned in
Week 5 of this course, if something goes wrong, you will have a hard time regaining people’s
trust and confidence. Your local newspaper will definitely not help you.
The same principle holds true for what you say and do online. The big difference is that you
have more to worry about than your local newspaper. If enough people see or respond to
something you post, anything you write can go viral overnight. And while you can delete or edit
your content, you can never ensure that what you posted will not be read. As a character from
the 2010 film The Social Network points out, “The Internet’s not written in pencil…it’s written in
ink.”1 There are plenty of examples of well-known figures whose careers were derailed by their
tweets, including Roseanne Barr, Gilbert Gottfried, and BBC journalist Danny Baker. But you do
not have to be a famous celebrity to attract attention online. Consider Denise Helms, the
manager of a Cold Stone Creamery store who used a racist slur in a Facebook post. Or take
Stephanie Bon, an HR assistant who used her posts to complain about her salary at Lloyds
Banking Group. Even though they used their personal social media accounts, both Helms and
Bon were fired for their actions. Think about it. If you were a manager at Cold Stone or Lloyds,
would you want this content to be even remotely associated with your organization?
Even if you are using social media on your personal time, what you do reflects on the
organizations you are associated with. It can also spark the curiosity of the organizations you
want to be associated with. According to a 2018 study by CareerBuilder, an employment
website, 70% of employers surveyed said they looked at social media sites to help them
evaluate job applicants. For hiring managers, your résumé and your interview are both
important. But how you present yourself online can offer a truer sense of your personality. And
according to CareerBuilder’s study, 57% of employers reported they had found material on
those sites that led them to eliminate candidates.2 Sharing inappropriate content,
1 The Social Network, directed by David Fincher (2010; Los Angeles: Columbia Pictures, 2011), DVD.
2 “More than Half of Employers Have Found Content on Social Media that Caused Them NOT to Hire a Candidate,
According to Recent CareerBuilder Survey,” CareerBuilder, August 9, 2018,
09-More-Than-Half-of-Employers-Have-Found-Content-on-Social-Media-That-Caused-Them-NOT-to-Hire-a-
Candidate-According-to-Recent-CareerBuilder-Survey.
JWI 505: Business Communications and Executive Presence
Week 9 Lecture Notes
© Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University confidential and proprietary information and may not be
copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed, in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of Strayer University.
JWI 505 – Lecture Notes (1206) Page 3 of 6
communicating unprofessionally, and spreading mistruths are all warning signs for hiring
managers.
This is not to say you can never use social media, or that you can never express your opinions.
In fact, most employers expect you to have an active online presence. After all, if you were a
hiring manager, and you could not find information about a job applicant anywhere online, what
would you assume about them? You just have to make sure your online presence – your
LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, blog, and personal website, among others – is professional. It has
to reflect who you are as a person. And it must demonstrate why you are worth listening to.
What to Post and Where to Post It
In Week 6 of our course, you learned the five components of a strong communication strategy.
You know that your objective plays a key role in determining both your content and your
medium. You want to capitalize on every opportunity you have to expand your presence and
create strong connections with others. Social networks can help you do that. You need to
assess what you want to accomplish online and act accordingly.
Not all social networks are alike, and you will want to use different channels for different
purposes. For example, imagine that you are the sole proprietor of a photography business. You
have a number of very loyal clients, but you want to expand your presence and grow your
business. You already know that you should have a strong LinkedIn profile. This is how you
connect with other professionals and display your credentials and accomplishments. But what
else do you need? If you have enough clients, you could create a Facebook page for your
business. This will be useful for sharing updates with those clients. You should have a website
that lists all of your services, as well as your contact information and a short biography. Since
you work in visual arts, you should have an account on a platform that caters to visual
expression, like Snapchat or Instagram. You could also create a Twitter account if you want to
capitalize on new business trends and share articles. In each of these instances, your objective
is to spread awareness of who you are and what you do. And while the content you share on
these platforms should all align with your personal brand, you will tailor that content to each
channel. This way, you fulfill your objective through different means. As Laura Brown reminds
us, just make sure you use these channels consistently and frequently to build your online
JWI 505: Business Communications and Executive Presence
Week 9 Lecture Notes
© Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University confidential and proprietary information and may not be
copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed, in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of Strayer University.
JWI 505 – Lecture Notes (1206) Page 4 of 6
presence.3
Using social media to expand your personal presence sounds straightforward, and if you deliver
the right content about yourself through the right channels, you will succeed. But whatever you
present online is always open to scrutiny. This is especially true if you are looking for a job.
Take a look at your social media accounts, especially if you do not use very strong privacy
settings. Are there a lot of posts about yourself and your personal life? Do you share a lot of
very divisive thoughts about politics or social issues? Are there a lot of pictures online of you
drinking? According to a 2020 study from Pennsylvania State University, hiring managers weigh
topics like these very heavily when they make decisions.4 You may not mean to offend those
managers when you share pictures from your birthday party or when you post a political opinion
piece. But what would potential employers think if they saw this content? Posting too much
personal information could make you seem self-absorbed and unlikely to contribute to team
goals. Posting very strong opinions about controversial issues could indicate that you are
argumentative and will not cooperate with your colleagues. And posting too many pictures of
yourself drinking and partying suggests that you might not take work seriously.
Believe it or not, hiring managers are not actively looking for reasons not to hire you. They just
want to know more about who you are. They also want to make sure your qualifications are
legitimate. The background you have posted online should match with what you have on your
résumé. In fact, hiring managers will look extremely favorably on content that is communicated
professionally or that demonstrates positive interests, like volunteer work. This is why you
should constantly update your professional networking accounts, such as LinkedIn or Shapr.
Your other accounts should complement that background, especially if you use them for
professional purposes. Your personal profiles, such as your personal Instagram account, are
best kept private.
You should still exercise this level of caution if you are gainfully employed. The way you present
yourself online is scrutinized even after you are hired. CareerBuilder found that almost half of
employers use social media to research their employees.5 Even if you think your boss does not
check your accounts, think about your connections. Are you Facebook friends with your team
3 Laura Brown, The Only Business Writing Book You’ll Ever Need (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2019),
143-155.
4 Sara LaJeunesse, “Social Media Content Matters for Job Candidates, Researchers Find,” Penn State News,
February 5, 2020,
candidates-researchers-find.
5 CareerBuilder.
JWI 505: Business Communications and Executive Presence
Week 9 Lecture Notes
© Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University confidential and proprietary information and may not be
copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed, in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of Strayer University.
JWI 505 – Lecture Notes (1206) Page 5 of 6
members? Do your colleagues follow you on Snapchat? If they took issue with something you
posted, what might they do? There are countless examples of people like Denise Helms and
Stephanie Bon who have been reprimanded or even fired for what they posted on their
accounts. And remember, it is virtually impossible to erase content from the Internet. If you are
fired for an insensitive tweet, for instance, any potential employer can find that tweet quite
easily.
Setting Guidelines for Employees
Preventing your coworkers and employees from checking their social media accounts during the
workday is extraordinarily difficult. But considering that your employees can be powerful
advocates for your organization online, you do not necessarily want to prevent them. In fact, as
many business leaders have learned, you can use their online presence to your benefit. Jeremy
Burton, the CEO of Observe, Inc., a technology company, requires employees to spend an hour
a day on social media. And Tony Hsieh, the former CEO of the clothing company Zappos, even
created a curriculum for employees on how to use social media effectively.
A digital engagement policy is a strong step toward harnessing your employees’ power as digital
advocates. This policy outlines what your brand is and how to project that brand online. It details
what content your employees should never post. It offers a thorough definition of acceptable
conduct on the Internet. If it is truly comprehensive, it will even delineate what behaviors are
acceptable for different channels.
Having a digital engagement policy does not mean imposing strict rules on what your
employees say online. Often, what you put in your policy should be common sense. For
example, regardless of who you are or where you work, you should never post anything lewd or
discriminatory; Best Buy explicitly includes this as a rule in its policy. But you can also use your
digital engagement policy to clarify uncertain terms or roles. Walmart, for instance, asks
employees not to respond to customer inquiries online unless they are part of the official
Walmart social team. And many companies, including Adidas, Oracle, and Ford Motor
Company, ask employees to make it clear that their posts are their own opinions, not those of
the entire organization. Guidelines like these protect your organization’s brand and prevent
potential crises.
Employees should not feel that their thoughts are being policed. But if they are openly affiliated
JWI 505: Business Communications and Executive Presence
Week 9 Lecture Notes
© Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University confidential and proprietary information and may not be
copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed, in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of Strayer University.
JWI 505 – Lecture Notes (1206) Page 6 of 6
with you and your organization, you want them to be positive spokespeople for your brand.
Perhaps you can create a blog that employees can use to post about working at the company.
Adobe offers a strong example of this with its Adobe Life blog. Furthermore, companies like
Spotify and Reebok have created hashtags which employees can use in their posts. Adding
#fitasscompany to an Instagram post, for instance, demonstrates how Reebok employees are
upholding their company’s brand.
Looking Ahead
In this lecture, we examined the elements of a strong, professional social media presence. We
discussed how to use different online platforms for different objectives. We also uncovered how
to protect your and your organization’s reputations through tools like digital engagement
policies. You know that your online presence can be a significant boon to your professional
development. But as we have discovered, sending the wrong messages can severely hinder
your aspirations. You should feel free to express your opinions on the Internet. Just make sure
you know what those opinions represent and how they might appear to others.
In our final lecture, we will return to the topic of executive presence. We began this course by
learning what it is and why it is so important for you. We will conclude by exploring how to
demonstrate your own executive presence while you grow as a leader.
