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Monday, September 3, 2012

double life

Blogging question: Is your social media integrated for your blog and personal life? 
Or have you created separate profiles for each?
{What I Wore: Gap (via eBay) jean jacket {similar} // boutique dress {love this one}  // Kate Spade armadillo belt {similar camel belt} // J.Crew wedges {these are so cute!} }
My real life and online blogging life are about to meet, and it worries me.
In a way, I am leading a double life - a serious, driven biomedical researcher pursuing my PhD by day, and a passionate blogger by night.
Personally, it is better if I keep my after hours hobby a secret from my boss. Unfortunately I am afraid that if he were to find out, it would change his impression of me... in a negative way.
It is what it is... but, with the increase of professors and University Staff joining social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, I am afraid that my secret is going to be let out of the bag.
So how to you manage your life on social media?
Separate accounts? Or do all facets of your life live together in perfect harmony?
xx
Jessica

28 comments:

  1. The only social media account I have that has my full name on it is Pinterest (because I think you don't have a choice on there). I have a separate FB page for my blog and I use Twitter and Instagram solely for blogging because like you, I try to keep my blogging world separate from work. Of course when you're publishing contact on the internet it's very possible the two worlds may collide!

    -Sharon
    The Tiny Heart
    Enter my jewelry giveaway!

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  2. hi! I completely agree with what you've written here! So on point. I'm a lawyer by day and feel the same way as you do. I have separate social media sites for the most part. Glad to have found your blog, lady!
    xx
    The Fashionable ESQ
    http://www.thefashionableesq.blogspot.com/ 

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  3. I tried for a long time to keep it a total secret! except from my family! but then a few friends starting finding out and now most of my friends do know.  and then awkwardly my boss somehow found out about my blog - he said he thought it was great but I still feel a little embarrassed that he may read it.  I keep trying to remind myself to continue to write and put whatever I want to out there and not worry who may read it!  p.s. LOVE this cute dress!

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  4. First of all, this dress/outfit is really beautiful.

    Second, it's really hard to hide being a fashion blogger.  I'm lucky in that my boss' are super cool and actually read my blog for fun.  But honestly, (and I don't know your whole boss story), your blog is pretty PC.  I've never read any rude or questionable topics on your blog, and all of your outfits are always appropriate and pretty.  What would be bad about that?

    I have a separate Facebook page for my blog, but my Instagram is all one account.  Does that help? 

    Julia
    http://cupoftea-style.blogspot.com

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  5. It's a shame that you feel like you have to hide your hobby, but I kind of understand being concerned that others might view the subject of your blog as vain or superficial. Obviously I don't think it is :) But if you're going to "come out of the closet" as it were, I think you just have to explain that an interest in fashion and style is just like an interest in baseball or stamp-collecting or knitting. Plus when you're buried in books all day (like I am), it's nice to have a more creative outlet. Chances are, if your boss isn't interested in style blogs, he/she isn't going to be checking up on your online presence very much!

    Sarah's Real Life

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  6. I think a genius mind needs a creative outlet!  This is yours and it is appropriate and professional and makes your mama smile, so it seems all good to me.  He should know what a gem he has to work for him!!

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  7. My blog has Pinterest, Twitter, and a G-mail account, and I have my own G-mail and Facebook that I keep separate. I guess I worry more about blog readers finding me in the real world than I worry about the real world people finding me on the internet. But I also don't talk about my blog that much day to day. My family and my fiance's family read my blog as do some of my friends from school. It's a nice way to keep in touch, I think. But I wouldn't necessarily want my advisor or my boss to be reading it. Good luck keeping things separate! 

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  8. I personally have separate accounts and think it's the best solution. Of course, as a teacher that was immediately a necessity because students and parents and co-workers wanted to follow me, so I created a teacher FB page, and I still have my personal FB for friends and family.  As a teacher, I feel it's very important to keep professional and personal separated- and blogging mostly separated from that. I also have a Hems for Her FB page and Twitter. It's a lot of juggling, but the safest option, I think.

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  9. Sharon, I did change my pinterest to Hems for Her. I didn't want students stumbling across my "evening job" as a fashion blogger ;)

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  10. Mine is all together. I teach dance so a lot of the dance moms request me as a friend on facebook. I feel weird not accepting them and then I feel like I have to watch what I say on facebook. Not that I say BAD things but I get pretty opinionated on topics and it might offend some. Oh well!

    Amy

      Fashion and Beauty Finds

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  11. Definitely separate! I teach at a local Community College so for me it's a matter of professional integrity and privacy to keep the two separated. In a way, we are more personal on the Web then in any other job, so it's not going to benefit me by exposing my other hobbies to my employer. 
    But if i were in fashion business, by all means, blend all aspects...

    happymedley.blogspot.com

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  12.  i've always been sort of envious of people who could either keep their blogs entirely private, or blend blogging life and personal life seamlessly.  my husband's family is ultra-conservative, and i'm...not.  when his mom and aunt told me that they'd been reading my blog, i really worried that it may change their opinion of me if i dropped the "D" word, or they knew i wore a bikini, or anything else that would seem ridiculous to me, but they always tell me how much they enjoy it, so i guess it's been okay!  sometimes though it makes it hard to be honest on my blog if i had a hellish customer because i can't mention it in case they see, and i worry that if i get someone's order sent late because i've been so busy, if they see that i've posted on my blog, will they think i'm only too busy to ship orders, but not too busy to blog?  maybe i just worry too much ;)

    also, i think your outfit looks great, and i'm so happy that it's september so it will finally get cool enough (fingers crossed) to wear jackets with dresses!

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  13. Love the outfit Jess!! That's a pretty color on you :)

    I blend my worlds. I do have a seperate FB page for Glitterary Girl, but I also add my posts to my personal FB. My Twitter is for both, and I'm not very much into Instagram (YET!), but I think that account will be for both as well. My co-workers read my blog and I try very hard not to put anything on there that would seem "unprofessional."

    Your blog is very upbeat and friendly, and I can't see any boss being unsupportive of your choice of creative outlet.

    xo

    www.glitterarygirl.blogspot.com

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  14. Haha I'm certainly living the double life too! I haven't really extended my blog into social media, but I also wouldn't want people from my uni finding out about my blog - fellow students, staff, or work colleagues! I just don't want to be explaining it to people who don't understand/may be judgmental :/



    Life etc

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  15. I'm conflicted about that too. Right now, Facebook is for all non-blog things. I do like other blog pages on FB, and I don't have my twitter account listed on FB. Instagram/Twitter/Google +/GFC are all reserved for blogging, and not work/school related things. It can get to be a bit much, but I want to make sure I'm taken seriously at work.

    Who knows, maybe your boss won't care!

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  16. I think in order to be a blogger, you have to get over the fact that people will be seeing what you write- it's just bound to happen. I think as long as you aren't complaining about your job or swearing a lot or posting inappropriate pictures, it's just a hobby like anything else. 

    & love the color of this dress! 

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  17. First, I love this outfit. Second, I feel the same way! Currently, my bioengineering co-op is on the university med school campus, so a majority in our lab are pursuing their PhD's and they're all so crazy smart that I feel if they found out I had a blog, they'd severely judge me.  









    A Southern Drawl

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  18. My blog isn't a "secret", I just don't tell many people about it. My twitter account, which I don't use that often, is both my blog and personal account. I have separate facebook pages though. Everyone has hobbies. This is ours. 

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  19. I do integrate my social media and blogging, but luckily (maybe) I'm not that popular so I haven't run into any problems! So long as you're keeping it classy on the internet (you are) I'm sure you have nothing to worry about! Who knows, maybe your boss is a huge fashion blogging fan and would never have made the connection otherwise! Pictures are lovely, by the way. I like how you hung your jacket up on that fence :)

    perfectly priya

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  20. You look gorgeous!!! And I totally hear you - I'm also afraid my little secret will get out.  I also have a separate FB page for my blog, and my Pinterest account is my blog name.  I'm pretty sure I've kept my full name off everything, as well, just to be safe. 

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  21. I live a double life too...and I'm worried that very soon, the two worlds I've been keeping separate will overlap as well.

    http://thebelatedbloomer.blogspot.com

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  22. Good question and I've read the other comments with interest. I'm an all joined up kinda gal as I think it's always better to just be open about these things as they will come out in the end. I don't have a corporate job however so not sure how I would feel about it if I did. Maybe I wouldn't blog in the style that I do? Avril x

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  23. For the most part, I've kept my online life separate from my personal life. However, with Instagram, that became almost impossible. And then a few friends found me on Twitter. I'm a little embarrassed that they've seen my blog, but they've had nothing but nice things to say. It's still a little awkward though.

    (If you're interested, I'm giving away a $100 gift card to Shopbop. Enter here!)

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  24. Love the denim jacket over the dress - SO cute! I didn't know you were a biomedical researcher?! That sounds so fancy & important! I don't keep my blog a secret...but I get why people do. I post my my posts on facebook most days...and it's always funny to me - the random people that comment about it....but mostly good things, so hopefully if your worlds collide, it won't be so bad :)

    Annie
    The Other Side of Gray 

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  25. you look adorable! honestly my life blends a little. i mean i certainly keep some things separate. but in general, most people in my real life know about my blog. 

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  26. Fortunately, I don't have to worry about this problem, but in situations like this, I would definitely keeps things separate. I doubt Instagram and Pinterest are an issue, unless your boss is all over that lol. Facebook, you'd have to accept their request, which you don't have to, so I think Twitter would be the only issue. Maybe make a Twitter account for your blog and for personal?

    But then again, they could just 'Google' your name and everything would probably come up... hmmm...

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  27. I keep some things separate, and some not. My boss has no clue about my blog, but a lot of my coworkers know about it and love it. As far as social media goes, I keep some things separate. On FB I have a personal profile and then I keep a FB page for my blog. I only have one twitter, which I use only for my blog. I only have one each of instagram and pinterest, so those are definitely integrated. If people wanted to find my blog, they easily could. 

    I just think it's best to keep my boss and other superiors out of my personal life altogether. I wouldn't even add them to my personal social media accounts. Just my two cents!

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  28. I have a similar kind of struggle!!! Not necessarily with work, but with aquaintences (aka facebook friends) that I don't want being all judgy. The only platform that I use for both personal and blog is instagram, mostly because the stuff I post on Instagram isn't really blog related. I have a separate blog facebook page and separate blog twitter (though I never used Twitter much until I was a blogger...), and my Pinterest account is solely for my blog. It's kind of annoying to keep it all up but the last thing I need are fringe-friends calling me superficial or vain behind my back because I have a love for fashion!!

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Thank you for your comments, they make my day!!
xx