As I have started to look into social networking again, I came to think about the importance of setting up a good profile. There are lots of good tips and pointers out there on how you should promote yourself and what you should never put in your network profile(s). You can see a good example here on WritersCorner:
Setting Up A Marketing Profile

So as I am setting up my profile, I think about what to put in the “tell us about yourself” field. And it hits me: I choose what to write. What I want people to know and what not to know about me. I surely will leave out some things about myself.

“Leaving out some specific things about myself in my profile”. Does that make me a liar?

The truth is that we are all multifaceted creatures.  None of us is never 100% of what other people perceive us to be.  We have many sides and many “faces”, strong and weak sides.  Most of what we put out there when marketing ourselves is pretty one sided – we show the face we believe will be most accepted, the most trust worthy. The side of us that shows us a business people. This isn’t really lying, just holding back some of the truth. We simple just show one consistent side of ourselves.

But what about the “rest of us”?  What about the other faces we carry? The ones that most of the public doesn’t know about, embraces or sees?  Should this side be kept hidden and undiscovered, or could it be brought into the conversation? If I should choose to show of another side of me, would I have to find a different voice, or brand? And surely I risk the connections to my fellow networkers and all the contacts I’ve build up with the face they know, trust and feel comfortable with.

I think we all trust people we feel are genuine and honest. But do we really know these persons? There must be a way for all of us to show our true selves, without risking what we have already built, and all the contacts we have made. So tell me the truth here:  Do you have a marketing face?