Heather Hawkins

This question is worded quite ambiguously. If channels you are on specifically to grow your professional reputation are not working, review the best practices for growing professional reputation on that channel. If, however, how you present yourself on any channel is actually HINDERING your professional reputation, go back to my #1 rule of assessing crisis comms: "Is this a PR crisis, or is it a crisis of culture or leadership." Only, in this case, it would be a crisis of personality. Do some deep introspection on whether the you that you present on any channel is a person you would like to work alongside. If you'd find the you you're presenting to be an off-putting colleague, bad egg, unreliable, etc., start inside to clean that up.

I think there are two subtleties to this question: 1) Are you intending to use that channel to have anything to do with your professional acclaim? Because there are plenty of channels many of us use with that not being the primary goal (eg. Using Facebook mainly to keep in touch with friends and family vs professional networking). But, also, 2) If what you are sharing on a personal channel is actually hindering your professional reputation-- explore whether you might be an a-hole. (Said gently.) If how you present yourself personally bleeds into your professional reputation, you might have deeper exploration to do. Nobody likes to align with jerks.

What else to consider-- Softare is lovely, it's great. However, it is not a replacement for human connection. Don't spend more time evaluating your software and designing your surveys-- spend equitable time communicating with your humans. One-on-one sit-downs with people that represent various stakeholders. Open-floor town halls. Not only does it give you more color to the rote statistics you're collecting, it lets people know that you care about the input you are collecting... and might bubble up some valuable intel that a survey alone never could uncover.

Accidental pro-tip: I struggled with the Algebra -> Geometry -> Algebra 2 chain my college required for a BA (couldn't get through algebra.) I went back years later, then 10 years into a PR career, once accomodations were more mainstream- They immediately put me directly into Advanced Verbal Logic to fill the requirement. Math with words! Aced it with 105%. Such a fascinating class, and I highly suggest all people who "math with words" for a living take it.

Never, ever, underestimate the power of silence. I train all my executives going into "tough conversation" media interviews about the power of silence-- and that reporters are likely to use silence to get you to open up about things that are not on-script (it's human nature to fill space.) JUST WAIT. It's also effective in negotiations with employers, partners, etc. State the thing you know you want to state... then wait. It might be uncomfy, but endeavor not to be the next person to speak.

Key to consider: If you are in an agency alongside other comms folks, they are likely to "get" it, but if you are the only comms person in a company there can be a need to educate that comms doesn't operate on a 9-5 in your timezone schedule. It works across ALL timezones-- If you have news breaking and are on the West coast, you may be up at 5 am. If you are on the East Coast contributing to an event happening on the West, you may be on task until 9 pm making sure it goes smoothly (double-triple that for international news and events.) Educate others in your company on the needs of your unique role, and that it might make your "in office" schedule different. Don't let guilt push you to do 9-5 "like everyone else" just for appearances.