Social Media, Online Branding, and Twitter Plugs

I've spent the last couple of weeks fascinated by the democratization of the ability to brand oneself. A couple of years ago, articles started showing up on how to use Facebook to project a consistent and cohesive image. The theme of branding appeared with vigor during Graduate Women at MIT's Spring Empowerment Conference, especially during the keynote on how to find power in unexpected places (one of which is in branding and selling yourself) and more explicitly during the Online Personal Branding Workshop. (See the blog post on the whole week here.) Social media has allowed nobodies like me to manipulate my image and establish social credibility in ways previously only available to the Jackie Onassises and Coca-Colas of the world.

A couple of years late (but not too late, I hope), I recently set up Twitter accounts for myself (@jeanqasaur) and for Graduate Women at MIT (@gwamitweb). It has been interesting figuring out how to compose compelling tweets and how to get more followers. Follow GWAMIT to stay in the loop about women, science, and/or academia. Follow me for posts on computer science/tech and other things I find interesting (academia, human nature, life).

Anyone out there have good advice for how to use Twitter (personally, professionally, and personally vs. professionally) or have good pointers to literature on what to make Twitter? Please recommend in comments!

(I'm also trying to figure out how to use Facebook for organizations. Advice?)