Self-Branding: How’s the competition?
Before I go into this analysis based on Gershon’s Selling your self in the United States, I’d like to introduce one of my talented friends, Brock Lane. I’ve known Brock for a number of years, he has always been a social media junkie and a renowned video expert and editor. He graduated from the Art institute of Philadelphia in 2015 with a degree in digital film making and since then has been trying to start his own media production company. I asked him if he’d be willing to be interviewed about the varies topics in Gershon’s writing piece. He agreed. In the beginning of Gershon’s book he discusses how if you’re seeking employment you should be careful of how you portray yourself in your social media platforms. That you either need to delete your accounts or self-brand yourself into a likable product. I asked Brock if during his senior year if his mentors or professors asked him to delete or embrace his medium platforms. Brock informed me that none of his professors advised him to delete any of his mediums, “They were very truthful to me and encouraged me that I keep all of my platforms. Especially since I’m trying to be a film director someday I need to have my work up and published at all times” Brock had said to me. Which makes since because he told me when he graduated the competition was fierce, especially trying to land internships with big companies he applied for such as NFL, NBA, ESPN, MTV and the likes.
I asked how he felt about self-branding and asked if he felt he really needed to start branding himself and his works. People are told that to be hirable they must use the concept of brand as a metasemiotic ideology that can provide the communicative strategies to regiment a self into a legible employable persona. Brock informed me that he believed that self-branding is beneficial and should be practiced as much as possible. It’s not a way to sell out or trying to earn more income, its a way to get your name out there since the job market is slim and competition tough. Turning oneself into a hirable subject nowadays involves embodying older and well-established forms of individuality but with a twist: as a managed self with a brand . Its important to realize with self-branding you should not be someone else or someone else’s brand, underestimating time to develop a great brand and getting followers for the sake of followers. If you’re interested in Brock’s works please click the link below and see for yourself!
Brock’s Youtube page
