Aim high in how you present yourself

I teach a class through Fresno Pacific University called ET 735-Creating on the Web. This is one of the weekly devotional thoughts for that class.

Week 2: Be clear about who you are, and what you have to offer

The disciples of John the Baptist asked Jesus who he was, and Jesus told them to report back what they had seen and heard:

When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” (Matthew 11:2-6 NIV)

Jesus had a clear demonstration of who he was and what he had to offer. What he said about himself is certainly a topic worthy of lots of time and focus. In this passage, though, he points to his actions, and the results of his actions.

We want our online presence to be accessible, organized, and professional-looking. We can tell people all day long that we are organized and professional, but if our online presence does not reflect that, then our potential audience will not believe it, and won't stick around for long.

For our online presence to attract the kind of rich conversation and high-quality educational professionals that we would like to have in our PLN, we need to think very strategically about how we present ourselves online.

Who you are will be clear by what you do and share.