Have you ever “Googled” someone? Well, if you did, what you found was their online footprint, also called online presence.
Your online presence is made up of everything about you and created by you online. In includes:
- Stories about you in the press
- Your social networking activities
- What people say about you online
- Anything you’ve written and posted online
As an actor gains visibility, their online presence becomes increasingly out of their direct control.
Take high-profile actors such as Mel Gibson and Tom Cruise. Much of their current online presence is made up of negative mentions in the media. From Gibson’s racist rants to the poor box office numbers for Cruise’s latest film.
When this negativity gets too strong, it can affect what an audience thinks about and actor, and therefor whether or not they will go see their films or plays, or buy merchandise related to them. In fact, Joe Gandelman recently wrote about this in an article for The Moderate Voice.
The reverse is true, too. If your online presence is positive, it can lead to a growing fan base and, in turn, more and better roles.
So how do you exert an influence on your online presence?
- Be active in social media.
- Be an active blogger.
But, most importantly, when in public, always be gracious. You never know when someone you meet and are rude to will write about it in their blog, share it on their Facebook profile or tweet about it on Twitter.
Although I like to dwell on the positive and not publish my bad experiences with actors (and I have had them), I’m not the norm. In fact, people are more likely to not only remember their negative experiences, but also share them with their social network verbally and now online.
So, if you want your career as an actor to thrive and grow, you want to be just as aware of your online presence as you are of your craft and the projects you choose.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Carma,
Great article and it gets right to the point of the importance of self-promotion and not relying on agents or publicists.
The fact is that employers (producers, directors and advertisers) often “Google” names of actors or voice actors before they hire them. This is sometimes even a requirement by the company’s legal department to ensure that they are hiring a credible spokesperson.
Here’s SlideShare presentation on the same topic that others may find helpful.
http://www.slideshare.net/voicesdotcom/marketing-in-the-google-era
Thanks,
David