The article considers the issue of creating and developing a portrait of a professional personality by electronic social networks. The problem of analysis of social network tools in the process of its formation is investigated. The social information networks common in Ukraine, their content, application of their specificity and orientation to a certain target audience in the construction of a professional portrait are considered. The significance of the image of a professional in social networks as a special market force is determined. The tendencies of activization of brand image in modern social information system, in development of domestic communicative space are investigated. It is noted that logically developed personal strategies play an important role in creating a successful professional image on the Internet. The results of research on the creation of the image of a specialist in social networks are studied and described in terms of its formation in terms of expanding the communication space of a globalized society, the transformation of old and new practices of interaction of social actors in various spheres of society. In the use of electronic social networks, the authors see the tools for the successful solution of representatives of a certain professional field of their social and professional tasks.
The World Wide Web has penetrated deep into our daily lives, and social networks have become a platform where it is convenient to create your own image. How this portrait turns out depends on both the purpose of its creation and the mass of various factors controlled by the Internet. In any case, the result of such an image is a personal brand in three areas: professional, private and social. Positioning oneself in electronic social networks as an expert in a certain field is currently one of the most important vectors of business marketing. Increasingly, before meeting with the right specialist or before deciding to work with him, the potential client above all views the Copyright © 2020 for this paper by its authors. Use permitted under Creative Commons Lireviews on the network, as well as a personal page on the social networks of this person. Thus, a blog on a social network is a necessary tool for building a professional image. Our task is to follow the current image of a professional on the pages of social networks in Ukraine.
To create a successful professional portrait on the Internet and turn your blog on
social networks into a tool that works for the image, and not against it, network users
first develop personal strategies. Research shows that only a communication strategy
that corresponds to the character and natural behavior of a person becomes truly
successful. Developing a personal strategy is almost the same as working on a
commercial brand: sincerity, self-esteem and responsibility for one's words are important. We
use the term “personal branding”, which appeared after the publication of Tom Peters'
article “The Brand Called You” in 1997. Peters defines a personal brand as what other
people think of us (ideas and associations, which we evoke in thoughts about our
appearance, behavior, etc.) [14.]. In other words, personal branding is the process of
creating and promoting your image in order to be able to manage your professional
image. In addition, personal branding is also defined as a set of marketing activities
aimed at promoting the person in the eyes of the target audience [
Due to the growing role of the professional portrait in the commercial sphere, a specialist capable of constant dynamics, possessing new information and modern technologies is considered competitive and in demand today. This fact necessitates a theoretical substantiation of the peculiarities of the formation and use of the image of a specialist in the electronic social networks, which is considered as a factor in increasing the competitiveness of the individual in modern market conditions.
Recently, social networks have become the object of increased attention of Ukrainian
researchers. This is evidenced by numerous scientific investigations, which analyzed
the positioning of user groups in social networks of the Internet (V. Bilyk, Y. Forkun)
[
A number of theoretical methods were used in the study: analysis of the state of research of the problem in scientific publications; study of practical experience in the use of electronic social networks; methods of comparative analysis, specification and design in order to determine ways to form a professional portrait; method of visualization of research results.
The main function of the Internet is to search for information. But searching for information on the Internet is impossible without the use of a search engine. The main task of the search engine is to systematize the issuance of sites for the user. These recommended sites should satisfy the request with the necessary and most relevant information.
In fig. 1 presents statistics on the use of search engines worldwide. Figure 2 shows the search engines that Ukrainians prefer.
Comparing the popular search engines of the world and Ukraine (Figs. 1, 2), we can conclude that the same trends - the greatest demand is Google (90%).
All members of the Internet community operate on the Internet continuously, in real time. Changes in the information environment occur constantly.
The formation of public opinion on the Internet occurs in the process of interaction of the participants of the environment, and if the specialist is not engaged in communication activities, the formation of these images is under the influence of external factors.
Therefore, the ability to influence and shape the desired information space by is an important task for the formation of a portrait of a specialist. Social networks have significant potential in terms of communication activities on the Internet.
The trends in the use of social networks of the top five most popular in the world and in Ukraine are completely the same (Fig. 3). The difference is that in Ukraine Instagram is used more (16.8%), and in the world Pinterest (15.1%).
Modern social networks are becoming a necessary working tool for human activities in various fields: business, education, medicine, law and more. To some extent, they become an instrument of informational influence and manipulation of the mass consciousness [16, р.15].
As noted, the formation of a professional portrait on social networks begins with the development of personal strategy. The first point in this development is to define one's own audience: its average age, type of activity, interests, etc.
In different social networks – different interface and purpose, its audience, mechanisms of work. There is no universal classification of types of electronic social networks in the world community. The most common are “professional” or “network of professional contacts” (LinkedIn, e-LearningPRO), “traditional” or “universal” (Facebook, MySpace, Vkontakte, Classmates), “for author's records” (Twitter), “by interest” or “thematic”, “academic” or “research” (Academia.edu, ConnoteaCollaborativeResearch, Ukrainian scientists in the world) and «educational» (TheStudentRoom, TheMathForum, ePALSSchoolBlog, Yammer) (Amazing Statistics On The Internet And Social Media In 2020.https://uk.wizcase.com/blog/)/.
Ukraine aspires to international social networks – Facebook and Instagram. But
there are users who sit in the Russian “VKontakte” and “Classmates”. In the US,
Facebook is more popular than in Ukraine. But there are social networks that are
practically not used in Ukraine (Fig. 3.). For example, Reddit is a social news site where
users leave links to various information on the Internet. The survey was conducted
Research & Branding Group between January 24 and February 2 among 1,804
respondents throughout Ukraine, except for the territories occupied by Russia. The
survey method is a personal formalized face-to-face interview. The maximum sampling
error is 2.4% [
Facebook has the following advantages: a convenient assistant for setting up
advertising; automatically distributes popular posts so that as many people as possible can
see them; due to the large number of corporate pages makes it convenient to
communicate with other companies; provides detailed statistics on community
development. For the attention of the consumer today is a real war. Thus, according to recent
research, the user devotes only two seconds to the content [
In addition, he faces a difficult task: to be remembered so that when the need
arises, for example, in the services of this specialist, a person turned to him. To achieve
this goal, you should consider the basic capabilities of the social network. This is
what I. Strikha drew attention to, studying the peculiarities of the communicative
sphere of people who use social networks. The most important of them he calls:
1. self-presentation – the creation of individual profiles with information about
appearance, social status, mood, thoughts, views, competence, hobbies, etc.;
2. interaction of users on personal, business, formal levels by viewing each other's
profiles, internal mail, comments, etc.;
3. achieving a common goal through cooperation through finding new friends,
running a group blog, etc.;
4. exchange or accumulation of resources (texts, video and audio recordings, photos,
pictures, links to sites, etc.) [
Guided by the characteristics of the society to which a person presents himself and his individual characteristics, a person uses certain strategies, techniques and tactics of self-presentation. Psychologists call the most effective means of influencing the audience, which improve the level of personal and professional image and serve as the basic conditions for successful professional activity: positioning, verbalization, detailing, visualization, focusing on «useful» information.
Positioning as a means of self-presentation activity involves influencing the object of communication for a real assessment of the information perceived by the object, taking certain actions to obtain a positive assessment of the activity. Thus, studying the application of mythological technologies in modern viral communications, researchers have repeatedly noted that Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates perform selfpositioning. Their social media posts contain facts from the past about professional career growth and reflections on their impact. The purpose of these moves: to build a personal brand in accordance with the set goals [12, р.69].
In the literature the representation in a personal brand of something special, a
certain zest, differences from competitors are associated with the term “violet cow” [
For example, Svyatoslav Vakarchuk – musician, singer, frontman of a musical group, politician, creates a brand openness, sincerity, charisma, truthfulness, wisdom, love for his native land» – chooses a «violet cow» scarf on the microphone stand during the performance. Its additional advantages: public benefit, active civil position, political views, volunteering, military assistance, training, charity. The most commonly used means of brand communication are social networks, in particular: Facebook; Instagram; Youtube; Twitter.
Ruslana Pisanka – actress, TV presenter. Brand: charismatic, balanced, open,
sincere, direct, simple. Her “violet cow” is a natural lush woman, the type of “real
Ukrainian woman”. Additional benefits: movies, TV series, dances, weight loss. The
most commonly used means of brand communication – social networks, as well as:
Facebook; Instagram; Youtube; Twitter [
Thus, an important element of creating a successful professional portrait is the correct positioning, ie defining the target audience and its insights, competitive advantages and weaknesses, studying the positioning of competitors and those whose images seem attractive.
Important effective means of influencing the audience, which improve the level of personal and professional image, are verbalization (realization of image characteristics through verbal symbols, oral and written speech) and detailing (clarification of certain details, behavior, personality traits, lifestyle). A special place among the means of influence is visualization - the creation of visual elements of the image (appearance, manners, features of nonverbal behavior), including and in order to form the first positive impression, on the basis of which the initial and often stable stereotype of perception of the person is formed.
There are different visualization techniques: infographics is a graphical visual representation of information designed to quickly and clearly display complex information – tables, graphs, maps, logic diagrams and more. An effective method of conveying information to the audience - storytelling - telling a humorous, touching or instructive story from real life or with fictional characters [3, p. 140].
Figure 4 shows the relationship between the “portrait of a professional”,
“reputation”, “brand” and “image”. The broadest concept, in our opinion, is a portrait. It
consists of brand, reputation and image. A brand is an artificially formed image, a
reputation is a general public opinion, which is formed spontaneously, and an image is a
purposefully formed idea with the help of advertising. The concept of an individual
brand assumes that the recognition of a person begins with the success (assessment)
of personal skills inherent in the specialist [
Focusing on «useful» information as a means of self-presentation involves partial
concealment or coverage of certain information [
- The most popular among the free methods of disseminating information on a social network is the placement of information in your own community or thematic account. Thus, a high degree of user confidence in the information published, allows you to attract more users, which increases the popularity of the community and increases its search index on the social network;
- contextual advertising is a paid but highly effective method of disseminating information on social networks, which allows you to choose the target audience on a number of parameters (demography, geography, interests, education, work, etc.). However, the information disseminated has restrictions set by the administration of the social network, as such information is moderated before dissemination.
For example, advertising the professional qualities of the photographer, placed on his site, contains self-presentation, and verbalization, and visualization (his photo, photo as his professional work), and self-promotion in the form of a logo:
On Facebook and Instagram, this photographer submits the following text: “Hi! My name is Serhiy Honcharuk, I am a photographer in Vinnytsia.
I have been doing photography since 2015. During this time, I conducted more than 70 wedding shootings. Everything in my portfolio is processed as my other photos that clients receive. For each wedding I take with me a double set of equipment, and all your photos are stored in at least two copies. And they will be with me even after giving you the finished work. So in case of loss of a flash drive or other media, you can restore your wedding day.
My photos are emotional, stylish and vivid. Real! Their color is classic, pleasant and warm. I understand that a wedding cannot be repeated or postponed, so I am responsible for your holiday. And I carefully prepare for it. After the wedding, in the course of two weeks, I give away 10 processed photos. The remaining photos will be ready in three months. I also make chic photobooks, their cost and timing are determined individually.
Did you like my work? Then contact me soon to see the full versions of the wedding and get to know each other better!” (URL: http://honcharukphoto.com/? gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwLr6gqKa6QIVgVLCCh3ytgToEAEYASAAEgJ9DfD_BwE).
As you can see, the verbalization of your image also works well.
In light of the emergence of some specific aspects of creating the image of a specialist, it is useful to analyze a selection of “The boundaries of the social network” – interviews with sixteen lawyers, presented in the newspaper «Ukrainian Lawyer» [the boundaries of the social network]. Representatives of various law firms answer a number of questions: about the platforms of social networks on which they work; about the specifics of positioning a lawyer as an expert in social networks; and provocative: whether a lawyer can afford to publish personal data, entertainment and other non-professional content in his / her profiles.
No less interesting were the answers to the question of how to form a reputational component of the company through social networks; how to create content on social networks for the successful promotion of legal services, etc.
Summarizing the answers, we come to the following conclusions about the formation of the image of a professional lawyer in social networks:
1. The most common platforms are Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, and each of
the platforms performs a certain function. The Facebook page is presented in the
format of a legal blog for expats – «we easily and easily explain the complex aspects of
Ukrainian legislation that our audience faces. Such content answers the daily
questions of readers and demonstrates our competence» [
Instagram as a network of more open format, informs about the life of the company, vacancies, educational initiatives to get closer to followers and increase trust.
In the LinkedIn network, it is convenient to share materials that contain expert opinion within the company's practices: for example, reviews of changes in legislation. "Live content" is practiced – video directly from the office, conferences, etc. In LinkedIn you can and are recommended to write long grids, interesting posts on the topic on which you specialize. Linkedln, is useful for creating affiliate networks.
Twitter allows you to post short text messages, which is convenient if you need to submit some news from the life of a lawyer or law firm: won a lawsuit or an accompanying agreement, career advancement, entry into certain rankings.
But there are certain professional limitations: it is impossible to discuss specific cases that lawyers deal with on social networks, it is unacceptable when lawyers on social networks determine the guilt of a person in an incriminated crime.
2. “In cyberspace, you should be as realistic as possible, so that when you meet
people in person there is no cognitive dissonance and the feeling that you want to
seem who you really are not”, – said lawyers [
We were interested in the view of the director of marketing and development of
Sayenko Kharenko Alyona Onishchenko: “As a rule, for a full-fledged» life «in social
networks it is enough to define three or five of your roles, according to which the
content is further formed. An amateur athlete preparing for his first marathon? The
mother of a little brawler who shares his new antics? A driver who lifts the spirits
with another dose of car humor? It all depends on a person's personal qualities: you
can be anyone, but be real” [
3. The social network profile of a lawyer working for a law firm is part of the company's image. Any harsh remarks or photos of an unethical nature can affect the reputation of the organization represented by the lawyer. Some companies even have special statutes, which prescribe rules of conduct on social networks, which regulate interactive polite and competent communication on the Internet and are designed to reduce business risks for employees personally.
4. The image of a lawyer on a social network is intertwined with his reputation in a professional environment, and here these components of the image are combined.
5. The lawyer remembers the basic rules of lawyer ethics. Judges and texts of a lawyer on social networks should be sufficiently balanced and informative for his followers. As a rule, these can be short comments on current news in the field of law, business or politics, your own opinions on socially important topics. A profile on a social network can contain links to scientific publications, articles, comments for various publications, video comments that demonstrate the expertise of a lawyer. Thus, there is a clear verbalization of the image, and the requirements of this method of creating their image in lawyers are strict: publications must be aesthetic and, of course, competent - this is the cornerstone of any content.
Thus, we traced the methods used to form images of professionals on social media pages (Fig. 6). Interestingly, the judges' positions on the need to have their own page on the social network are somewhat different.
“Participants of any social network will always perceive a judge as a judge. Given
this status, they will meticulously evaluate everything: his photos, words, comments,
jokes and even the circle of “friends” of the judge, which was formed in this social
network. In the process of communication on a social network with different people,
and especially if they are also participants in the trial, it is very difficult to clearly
define the limit beyond which the judge will raise doubts about his impartiality. So, in
my opinion, the judge should refrain from any comments (including on social
networks), which may raise at least the slightest doubt in his impartiality”, – said
Yaroslav Romanyuk [
The reason for such opinions and the reason that a large number of judges do not have pages on social networks was an incident in Belgium two years ago. The court of first instance ordered the Belgian to pay alimony to his wife. The husband later noticed that his wife's lawyer was a “friend” on the social network Facebook of the judge who made the decision in this case. The resourceful Belgian was not confused and wrote a complaint to the High Council of Justice. The complaint was admissible and upheld. The subject of this complaint was even brought up in the annual report of the High Council of Justice of Belgium. This case was presented as an example to inform judges about the importance of impartiality in cases. Another recommendation – you need to be very careful when using social networks.
And an example of the exact opposite case, when the widespread presence of doctors on social networks demonstrates a manifestation of high professionalism.
The COVID-19 epidemic is spreading so fast, and the symptoms of the disease are
so poorly understood by modern doctors, that doctors and researchers share their
findings on Twitter and Facebook, not in medical journals, because there is no time to
write lengthy scientific articles. stingy grains of personal experience. While there is
no general protocol for the treatment of coronavirus, there is an urgent need in
Ukraine to create a professional (closed) Internet society, whose members could
urgently share experiences, receive consultations, conduct educational video chats [
Analysis of key concepts of image formation of a specialist in social networks
allowed to identify features of professional image: relevance (need “here and now”, in a
particular city and at a specific time), informativeness (message about a certain set of
features of the image object), activity (able to influence on consciousness, emotions,
activity, concessions of individuals and entire groups of the population), dynamism
(varies according to socio-economic factors), functionality (it is not an end in itself,
but provides an opportunity to move forward ), and the image can be in some cases
the basis for trust specialist. Social networks in the legal business are mainly a tool to
support the image, certify expertise, outline positioning, strengthen marketing
campaigns, personal brands, because a developed brand provides its owner with tools to:
significantly increase financial well-being; to turn a favorite business into an
incomegenerating activity; to increase the competitiveness of the employee in the labor
market; to form a positive reputation and ensure the recognition of activities by
professionals; grow your career fast; create your own successful business; to satisfy the
needs of self-realization and self-improvement [