Brazilian business culture and social media

In the US, much ink has been be spilled over potential employers checking your Facebook page. In American culture, people like to separate their private life from their business life, and most are fervent defenders of their privacy rights. This is closely connected to the American value of individuality.

Professionals are advised to put big walls between their business social media presence and their private social media presence, and different sites are used for each – most notably LinkedIn for business and Facebook for private. In the same way, many professionals will keep separate Twitter and Instagram accounts for personal and business relationships.

The reality is that US employers will sometimes “cross the line” and look at a candidate’s Facebook page – and therefore US professionals are advised to set strict privacy controls and/or be very careful with what they post online.

Brazilian business culture is very different. Brazilians value their relationships and collective identity above their own individuality; the lines between business life and private life are almost non-existent. Brazilians expect their co-workers to be their friends – in many cases, their co-workers are their best friends. In fact, in many cases, their boss is a close friend.

Facebook takes on a great deal of the same role LinkedIn has in Brazil. That creates a very particular situation, which can be extremely hard to manage: a professional is expected to Facebook-friend their superiors and co-workers, and a job seeker is expected to friend recruiters (or at least have enough information public that recruiters can peruse their Facebook wall).

In the same way – few, if any, Brazilians keep separate Twitter or Instagram accounts for work and play.

[Tweet “5 tips for your social media presence in Brazil”]

Tips for your Social Media Presence in Brazil

#1 – Manage the thoughts you share very carefully

In Brazil, you can’t simply hide anything that is remotely personal – so you need to choose exactly what you share on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Think about them as “personal marketing” tools, not as soapboxes. In other words: use them to share things that will put you in a positive light, and avoid things that can paint you as a negative person – or as having any traits that are clearly negative in a business environment (e.g. tasteless jokes).

#2 – Don’t flood your online presence

It is important to be very careful with how frequently you share your status, or tweet. If you do it too frequently it may give the impression that you’re not actually getting any work done, and it will make it difficult for recruiters to find anything in the clutter.

#3 – Don’t make stuff up or embellish; your online presence has become your “official record”

It is important to see your online presence as basically an extension of your resume / CV. That means that not only you need to be truthful in your online presence, but also that when you do send somebody a resume / CV, you realize that whatever is written there will be cross-checked with your online presence.

#4 – Avoid Politics and Religion

That’s the Golden Rule of business conversations – so it goes too for your online presence in Brazil

#5 – Write anything on Social Media as if it was a newspaper article

In other words – use correct spelling and grammar. Butchering Portuguese looks bad to co-workers and potential employers.

Speaking of Portuguese – don’t forget that 95% of Brazilians don’t speak English fluently, so yes, your online presence in Brazil needs to be in Portuguese – in correct, well written, spell-checked, grammatically correct Brazilian Portuguese.

At Street Smart Brazil we can help you become comfortable with Portuguese. Book a Trial Session to see for yourself.