How One Simple Trick Can Reveal Your Invisible Web Secrets

by Ryan Rancatore

You probably think you have a darn good grasp of how you portray yourself to the world wide web – and maybe you are right.  But, is it possible that the overall message you convey is different than expected?  Here is an unusual method to potentially discover unseen truths about your online communications – and three ways to go about it.

The following semi-unscientific method uses Wordle.net to create “word clouds” of any website or chunk of text you specify.  Essentially, the application ranks all the words used by frequency, and enlarges those words used most often.  Learn more about word clouds and Wordle here.

What do you think the most commonly used words would be for your:

  • Blog?
  • Twitter stream?
  • Linkedin profile (or resume)?

Here is the word cloud for this blog, Personal Branding 101.  See anything interesting or unexpected?  I notice that my own name doesn’t show up anywhere and I mention social media tools a heck of a lot.  As expected, “personal branding” and “personal brand” dominate the page.  What would the top four or five words be for your blog?

Personal Branding 101 Wordle

This image is a little more interesting – it is the word cloud for my Twitter stream, going all the way back to my first tweet a year ago.  Who knew I sent so many RTs about personal branding?  (OK, maybe that was obvious).  But, who knew I said “thanks” so darn much?

RyanRancatore Twitter Wordle

To gather data for your entire Twitter history, visit TweetStats.com, enter your Twitter ID, and click “Tweet Cloud”.  In the middle right, there is an option to convert to a more aesthetically pleasing Wordle.

This final option will be most intriguing for job-seekers.  Ever wonder what the net impression of your resume or Linkedin profile might be?  Simply copy/paste the entire contents into the Wordle text field, and…presto.

Here is the word cloud for my Linkedin profile.  Interestingly (yet expected), the focus shifts from personal branding to advertising, media, and investments (as that is what I do for a living).  What would you expect yours to show?

Ryan Rancatore Linkedin Wordle

This method is by no means fool-proof.  It is simply a fun, easy way to explore the messages you broadcast across the web.  Try it out, and let me know what you discover.

Be Sociable, Share!

Related Posts

Tagged as: Blogging, Linkedin, Social Media, Twitter

  • Pingback: uberVU - social comments

  • http://www.devonjordan.com/ Devon Jordan

    Wow, this is really cool… Shows me that I need to step up my game on my website/twitter accounts.

  • http://personalbranding101.com/ Ryan Rancatore

    Devon – What exactly did you find? Was it different than what you
    expected? I'm curious.

  • http://www.devonjordan.com/ Devon Jordan

    Just that I am not using twitter for branding as much as I am communication. I also seem to be doing a lot of self promoting, being that Jordan comes up as my most used word, which is unfortunate, because that's not really what I want to use twitter for.

    On the blog its a bit different. Personal Branding, Social Media, LinkedIn, etc come up, which is good. But also a huge one is Gregg, stemming from a post I wrote after I met Gregg Champion from http://www.onecubicle.com.

    Just very interesting to see it graphically like that… Now its time to get the words I want in there, and its really time to get back to writing and reading about all things Social Media, like you I try to soak up anything and everything. Time to put the thoughts to “paper” I guess.

  • http://personalbranding101.com/ Ryan Rancatore

    Thanks for sharing, Devon. Keep up the good work – seems to me like you are
    on the right track, amigo.

  • http://marianlibrarian.com Marian Schembari

    I LOVE tweet clouds. Seriously, I recommend them for bloggers who get lost in their niche. A tweet cloud can be a great cure for writer's block and remind you what the hell you're talking about. It can also help steer you AWAY from things you may write too much about. I thought I was a “career” blogger until I realized I use the term “social media” waaaaay too much in my tweets. This helped a lot when I realized I was one of those dreaded bloggers who blogs about blogging. Yucky.

  • http://personalbranding101.com/ Ryan Rancatore

    The Marian “seal of approval” is a sign I must be on the right track…or,
    we are both spiraling downward and out of control together. One of those.

  • http://marianlibrarian.com Marian Schembari

    I vote for the former. Don't question Marian Logic. It doesn't lie.

Previous post:

Next post: