When I joined Facebook in 2009, I joined with my husband, our profile including a mashup of our names. Those first few days, we sat, side by side at the computer, looking for old friends to connect with and playing word games. (The beginning, and the end, of my gaming on Facebook.)

I still have a few friends who use Facebook that way, jointly, and I always experience a bit of dissonance when I read their updates. Now… who is posting? 

Essentially, that’s why I asked my husband to let me change the Facebook account to my name only. I tried to pinpoint exactly when by scrolling through my timeline. (Have you tried that? Holy cow, there are a lot of entries!)

If I remember correctly, we made the split about a week into to our joint Facebook adventure. Well, I made the split of our names, and he split from Facebook. (The beginning, and end, of my husband’s Facebook presence.)

I made the disconnect because, from the start, it was abundantly clear to me that, although I love, adore, and respect my husband, we are really different people. He wanted to “like” a bunch of stuff that I don’t like at all. And I wanted to make friends with a bunch of people that he didn’t (and doesn’t) know at all.

Updating your social media profiles regularly is an important habit.

When you do, you may be thinking about how you share your personal brand online. If you have never given serious thought to how you want to branding yourself and your business, I encourage you to do so.

Because whether you intend to —or not— you are creating a brand when you create social media profiles. Every time you post, you are telling your story. Every time you update, you are showing people who you are. What you write, what you tweet, what you “like” on Facebook, your status updates and stumbles, your photos and videos: it is all you, on display, archived for all to see.

If you are going to use social media to promote your business or relate to others, then I encourage you to do so purposefully, intentionally, and with awareness of the impression you are creating.

As you implement this week’s tips, ask yourself:

Am I expressing my brand clearly?

Am I sharing on purpose?

Am I aware of the image I am projecting?

You can read more about branding in the post “Branding is Not ______________.”

Or, for more help establishing your brand online, check out my Strategy and Branding Playbook.

Becky Robinson

I am the founder/CEO of the Weaving Influence team, the author of Reach: Creating the Biggest Possible Audience for Your Message, Book, or Cause, and the host of the Book Marketing Action Podcast. I’m a wife and mom of three kids, and I enjoy running, reading, writing, coffee, and dark chocolate.