Facebook as my Social Media Resume

Facebook was created in 2004, originally founded by Mark Zuckerberg. The website isn't even a decade old and has already attained global status with over 800 million users. Time Magazine named Zuckerberg Person of the Year in 2010.

If that fun fact wasn't enough to convince you that Facebook has changed the world, I'll continue: Everybody has a Facebook account - it's rare to meet someone who hasn't created one. Aunts, uncles, grandmothers, and acquaintances all fall into that dreaded (and usually massive) "friends list." A friend of mine went so far as to create a Facebook profile page for her dog. Facebook is an attractive way to re-create ourselves over the internet as we please through profile pictures, photo albums, and status updates. However, Facebook isn't as materialistic as it appears. The website allows us to keep in constant communication with friends and family worldwide. My aunt, uncle, and cousin all live in the Cayman Islands and we use Facebook to share photos and send messages, because we only get to visit with each other once a year, if we're lucky.

The connections that we create with others through social media are substantial and life-long, or as long as Facebook remains on the web. Today in ALES 204, we learned how to use social media as a professional tool - through the creation of a Facebook page, which is essentially a resume for the public to see. Facebook pages show up when people type a person's name in the Facebook search tab, which may become a tactic for future employers to take an online peek at who they may be hiring. In the future, I hope to pursue a job in the health sector. If I chose to create a Facebook page for my business, it would allow me to advertise to potential clientele for services such as nutritional counselling or personal training. When more people "like" a Facebook Page, it improves the odds of that Facebook Page to appear higher up in the search results.

Figure 1: Screenshot of professional Facebook page

From Lindsay Gervais (2012), Location [digital image]

Retrieved January 24 2012 from http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lindsay-Gervais/334939086538086?sk=info

A company that caught my eye for their effective internet marketing is HolisFit. Located in Kelowna, British Columbia, HolisFit is a small business run by two women who strive to inform others of holistic nutrition, while offering nutritional consulting and personal training. The homepage of their website even includes a blog, which is updated daily to inform their clients about new holistic nutrition information! They also created a HolisFit Facebook Page which allows people to connect with them through social media, with links to their daily blog posts on the "Wall" of their Facebook Page. This is an example of how social media is intertwined and connected - the Facebook page connects to their website, which also contains a blog.

Check out Courtney's blog post about her new Facebook Page! She's another student in our ALES204 interested in pursuing a career specializing in Human Nutrition.