Elle UK Is Concerned About Your Facebook Profile

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Brands and celebrities have social media strategists to help them manage their online persona, but what about you? British Elle thinks you need a strategy, too, and they're here to help. In this month's issue, a feature titled "How To Look Good on Facebook" dives into to all kinds of advice for helping the regular people look good online—some of it more relevant than others. We've pulled a few highlights below.

For starters, when working on your personal brand social media strategy, your Facebook photo is a good place to begin. If you were considering a professional photographer for your profile photo (anyone?), be warned that that is not advised by Elle. Nor is the self-iPhone-photo. Frequent Elle photographer David Slijper says, "Stand by the window. Switch off the flash and get someone else to take the picture."

The magazine also got Garance Dore to weigh in, and her two cents is that "the perfect profile photo is all about looking like yourself." Unless, of course, you are not a street-style star, in which case you might want to cover up a bit. Elle UK's accessories editor Donna Wallace suggests sunglasses, because they "hide a multitude of sins; then you just have to concentrate on making your lips look good."

What about your content? As mom would say, just be yourself. "Your style has to reflect you," says Rosanna Falconer, who manages social media for the British Fashion Council. "If you enthuse over day to day life, keep that style in your online voice," Aliza Licht, a.k.a. @DKNY, adds.

There are don'ts, too: "Don't pick fights and don't tweet when drunk," said PR guru Mark Borkowski. (That is actually great advice.)

Frequency is important, unless you want your friends to forget about you or something. According to Elle, regular updates help cement friendships. "Research shows that one Facebook post every other day is optimum," she advises. Feel free to tweet more than that if you want, but, she warns, "more than two links and hour means fewer clicks."

If you want more where that came from, the full article is available in the print edition of the magazine, but the magazine's digital team did put together this piece featuring their own Facebook photos from back in the days before they had all this advice. Scary.
· Team ELLE's first Facebook pics [Elle UK]