E-Habits: What You Must Do to Optimize Your Professional Digital Presence By Elizabeth Charnock; McGraw-Hill, 256 pages
Who are you? Not a simple question, is it? Among your friends and family, there may be several different versions of “you,” at least insofar as how you’re perceived. Same thing at work, school, at play and anywhere else you hang out.
Since many of us also project a presence online, we might want to manage those perceptions, at least for the sake of privacy. It’s also wise to ensure that impressions are accurate and reflect our values and behavior correctly and do no harm. Beyond that, our virtual personae are out there for all to see, but can be trimmed, polished and buffed a bit to help convey a more favorable—and marketable—version of ourselves.
Author Elizabeth Charnock, in real life, is the founder of a digital analytics firm, Cataphora. She digs through companies’ e-mails and more to track and identify behavior through electronic media. Her book focuses mainly on the version of us conveyed through our e-mail conversations, especially in the workplace. She analyzes—and sometimes overanalyzes—the overt and subtle implications of what we say and how we say it, right down to the order of whom we copy (“cc”) on a given message.
She writes: “The trail doesn’t stop when the workday is over. In fact, for some, that’s really when the action starts. Once we’re out of the office, we can tweet away to our heart’s content or spend hours commenting on all of our friends’ Facebook updates without fear of getting busted by the boss. Nevertheless, the second paradox of the digital breadcrumb trail is the silent, often terrifying way it demolishes the traditional boundaries between our personal and professional lives—while at the same time erecting even more impenetrable barriers.”
Overall, it’s an interesting book but a little bit of a letdown, since e-mail is just part of how we communicate. She touches upon Facebook, though in far from the exhaustive manner it deserves. She also mentions blogging and other online modes of communication, though again, not to the extent she dwells on e-mail. I can understand that it’s her area of expertise, but much of what she says—despite her insightful and entertaining presentation—seems obvious, at least to me. But it’s quite likely that there are many, many people and firms who remain oblivious to these things. There must be, or Charnock wouldn’t have a thriving business. But overall, this book falls short.
Also, I hate to be picky (though that’s what I’m supposed to be, right?) but the illustrative charts Charnock uses herein are pretty weak. With an exception or two, they’re essentially black-and-white screenshots of PowerPoint presentations. Fire that art director.
The book also includes a link to a free download of Charnock’s “Digital Mirror” software, a tool for assessing one’s persona. But Microsoft’s Windows operating system and Outlook e-mail client are required, so if you’re a Mac user who favors Gmail, tough.
