Comments on: A Philosophical Debate Over Personal Branding

By: Dana

Dana — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 14:30:26 +0000

All that being said, I agree with both Dave and Kyle. My interpretation of Dave's point is that he is arguing against developing an inauthentic brand and questioning how ethical it is to do so. I completely agree with this. We generally have more fulfillment and find more success when 1) we have deep self-awareness (a continual process) and 2) are able to consistently put forth ourselves authentically. Can you think about an encounter you've had with someone who is not authentic? It's all very subtle, but these people tend to make us distinctly uncomfortable. Leery. Skeptical. We signals we get from them that don't line up. It's disconcerting. I have never seen Kyle advocate for creating within social media a non-authentic version of ourselves just to please customers. Rather, he is teaching people how social media presents new opportunities to convey ourselves. We've been taught how to dress, speak and write in traditional formats, but we're just learning about the new communication vehicles present in the social media world.

By: Dana Harrison

Dana Harrison — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 14:29:58 +0000

Our "personal brand" is just a corporate-style term for a summation of who we are as viewed by the external world. If I want to get a sense of my personal brand, I can go ask a variety of people who know me in different contexts to give three adjectives to describe me. Pulling all of those together, I'd find commonalities – that's my brand. We all have a personal brand. The first question here is whether our personal brand (external) aligns with our true self (internal). Then the second question is whether we choose to embrace our personal brand and capitalize on aspects of it, which is nothing more than thoughtfully working to align our professional world and our internal and external selves.

By: Parke Ladd

Parke Ladd — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:53:55 +0000

My much deeper obligations, however, are more than branding my own self in order to spread my message. I hope that as my message increases, I decrease, and that the attention is consistently more and more on my message and less and less on me so that my fame may dwindle to nothing, yet my message be greater all the more.

By: Parke Ladd

Parke Ladd — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:53:10 +0000

The motivation behind spreading a message or building a following is what I attempt to genuinely look into. No matter what, the motivation behind why you do what you do cannot be separated from what it is that you do or what messages you decide to spread. We all must ask ourselves. Why do we do what we do? Fundamentally, we say, "In order to help others." However, how do we continue to do so when so much of our so called helping others actually helps our own selves to build fame and acquire a larger following. In helping others, we are actually helping our own selves, and thus the potential is there for our outward service to become some kind of facade, built in order to disguise our true inner longings to simply acquire followers and serve our selves. One cannot full-heartedly serve others when inwardly his hopes are to also help his own self. If service is not done with selfless intentions; if we expect to gain from our service, than it is for naught, and our service is in vain. The inner struggle exists, and if it doesn't, than I would love to hear how it can be ignored.

By: Parke Ladd

Parke Ladd — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:52:06 +0000

What is disappointing to me is that regardless of how true, how worthy, or how good a certain message may be, if it is spread in terms of "social media/personal branding" than it must always relate back to the one who is doing the spreading. No matter how hard we try to dissasociate ourselves with the messages we spread, for fear that our goal will be outwardly portrayed as self-seeking or narcissistic, we cannot help but draw attention back to our own selves. The business aspect, whether it is "plain and simple or reality" matters little. I expect you to tell the truth and talk about business, regardless. What matters, and what I believe Mr. Bennett to be getting at, is that there is an inner conflict between spreading a message because it is worthy of being spread and spreading a message because it will bring me more attention, grow my fame, and give me more "social power."…

By: Akash Sharma

Akash Sharma — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:40:11 +0000

Rightly said Kyle,I also read the post on Dan’s blog and that was quite inspiring because if we think we can make a brand out of ourselves we got to understand the difference between identity and personality and as far as the philosophical side of it is concerned, I am sure that the people who read it gave this particular thought some time in there minds.

By: David Horne

David Horne — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:13:26 +0000

Interesting. the key thing I gather is that personal branding in itself isn't about self promotion anymore, it is about creating something of value for the communities you live in and are a part of. Through giving and building relationships, your brand, or how others respond to you, think about you, and talk about you is forged. I think character is revealed through these interactions. Is a person trying to get something from me or rather help me and the community.