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Welcome to the 64th issue of Digital Leadership Inspiration 

Thank you for taking the time to open the email, here are the past issues. 

What about modern values. 

What do values mean in a global world? Are they connected to a nation, religious beliefs, a strong leader? Or are they connected to something else?

I think they are connected to our times. Modern times. An era of new ideas and shared global values.​

Read more here

Book me to speak


When I started speaking I said I will speak in any country I'm invited to. That's still my motto. 

When I work with you as a speaker at your event, I will tailor and craft a content rich keynote speech or masterclass. What I share must be relevant to the audience, and your industry.

sofie@sofiesandell.com
Hi everyone, 

I’m going to get straight to the point. Have you planned your digital afterlife? 

A few weeks ago a journalist interviewed me about life online and she asked how I have planned my digital afterlife. I want to share some of my thoughts with you. 

Social media is a key part of our lives, and it is important to put plans in place about what you would like to happen to all your online accounts when you are gone. What happens to assets such as a house and car when you are not here any longer is pretty easy to manage, but digital assets are complex. 

There are messages, photos and videos that we would like to share with the people left behind. There may be assets that should be deleted. When we are not here there is little we can do to control our online assets, and others may be able to do this for us without having access to our accounts. 
 
I’ve read that an estimated 108 billion people have lived since the beginning of the human race. Right now there are approximately 7.35 billion people living together on this earth. 

Every year 56 million people die. Now that approximately 40% of the world’s population has access to the internet, lots of online accounts are left behind.

You may not have shared any of your login details and passwords with anyone, and what’s left behind online will stay the way it is. This means that millions of people leave their online accounts as they are. Lots of people are added to the virtual graveyard. 

Do you have a plan? Does anyone else have access to the passwords for your digital devices? Have you left the right kinds of posts, ideas and thoughts online for people to look at when they search for you online?

There are plenty of instances where relatives are left behind with no access to a phone or a computer. 

I read about Colin and Sue Hehir who lost their son Morgan, and now they have no access to the content saved on his Apple computer. So far Apple has refused to give them access to the computer. 

Depending on your culture you may be more open about sharing your passwords with others, and I would highly recommend that you do this with the people you trust. 

Companies that produce digital devices do not build them thinking about what will happen after the owner’s death. It could be pretty easy to do that I would guess. Apple is releasing new updates all the time; why not add a question in the next one asking the device’s owner who Apple should contact if the person dies? And then make it possible for relatives to contact Apple after a relation’s death. 

On Facebook you can add a legacy contact. You can also download all your Facebook content, such as photos and videos, and share these with your loved ones.

We are used to watching the funerals of celebrities on TV. Have you thought about whether you would like to live broadcast your own funeral? You have plenty of options with new tools such as Facebook Live. Everyone who cannot attend your funeral could watch it later, or people far away can follow it live. 
 

Keep or delete? 

I met a woman at a conference who told me she wants all the traces of her online to be deleted the day she passes away. If she organised all her accounts in a smart way and share all the details with her family and trusted friends this is possible. Many social media companies are not that easy to deal with if you don’t have access to login details and passwords. 

I started to think about what I should do with my online accounts when I talked to my parents about what they wanted to do with their social media accounts when they are no longer here.   

A year ago I counted the number of sites where I post my own content online. It turned out that I am present in over 30 places. 

I shared the password to my computer with my parents a while back, and I’ve also let them know the login and passwords to some of my most relevant social media accounts. If they need to, they know how to log in to my mobile phones and iPad as well. My partner also has access to my digital devices.

When I’m not here I would like my Facebook account to stay as it is; it’s like a diary of what I’ve done, who I’ve known, the places I’ve been to and some of my personal thoughts. If it’s turned into a memorial page, I think that is okay as well. I’ve used my Instagram as a personal diary, and it’s easy to see what I’ve been up to, so that should stay. I post a memory there a few times a week, and it’s great to look back at what I’ve been up to. 

I don’t feel that close to my Twitter account, and it would be okay if that were deleted. On my LinkedIn page I share a lot of blog posts, if would be good if they were kept so people can continue to read what I’ve written. 

The most complex digital asset I have is my personal website and blog: www.sofiesandell.com. It’s tricky because someone needs to manage it if I can't do it. For a website you pay for your domain name and for hosting, and if the bank cards you pay with are not working any longer who will take the payments over? 

When I’m not here any longer it would be best to close down my website. I need to set up a backup plan if I want my website and blog to stay active.  

The journalist also asked me if I would like to send a message out on my social media when I’m gone. There are social media apps to help you with this. 

No, is my answer. 

I think it would be unfair to push messages out online when I’m dead. I write a lot, and would definitely like people to be able to remember me by looking at my social media accounts. If there is something I need to tell people, I will try to do it while I’m still here, not by sending a message after my death that may not be welcome at that moment. 

Some people are concerned about how they will be perceived online after they die. I believe that it’s connected with the fact that we expose ourselves all the time. We share more, and then people see more of us. Social media is part of our identity and who we are, and, of course, we would like to be remembered by others in a good and fair way. 

It’s a trend to be open and share a lot about yourself on social media. This then is reflected by what we leave behind. When we share more on open digital platforms it makes us more conscious of what we leave behind on social media. 

Some feel that they are writing their biography when they blog and document their lives on YouTube. It does make you think about who you are and how you would like to be remembered.  

Some interesting pages to check out on Facebook:
1) www.facebook.com/DyingMatters
2) www.facebook.com/DeadSocial
3) www.facebook.com/deathcafe

If you have any thoughts or worries you are welcome to get in touch with me, just send me an email. 

Thank you for reading. 

Sofie 

Email: sofie@sofiesandell.com 
TwitterSoffi_Propp 
My posts on Huffington Post 
A while ago VIDA asked me if I wanted to print my art on their platform. I gave it a go and I have to say that it's not bad at all to use your own art to keep you warm 😀 All prints are manufactured 'on demand' - a cool thing to do in our inter-connected world full of global citizens.

I painted the art in London or Sweden, added it to the VIDA platform, and they sent it off to printers and producers in India or Pakistan. All thanks to an entrepreneur in San Francisco who set it all up.

#DigitalLeadership - Love it when technology can be used this way.

You can view and order the scarves I designed in the VIDA shop. 
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October procrastination tips 


Wow, what an amazing tool to fall in love with. Weavesilk helps you paint a beautiful drawing in seconds. 

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The topics I speak about – the story behind them and a bit about me 


I was recently asked what topics I speak about, and I thought the best way to answer was to give some context and explain why I started my journey as a professional speaker.

If you don’t have time to read the full post, the short summary is that my speaking topics tend to be on social media, leadership, and digital balance.

I’ve done public speaking on and off for many years. The year I trained to become a ski-instructor we did lots of public speaking, and I sort of got ‘out of my shell’ back then.

For as long as I can remember I liked teaching and sharing knowledge and experiences with others. Speaking in front of a large audience can be pretty scary, and as it is with many people, I didn’t feel it was pleasurable at all to start with.

The first time I was asked to speak as an expert was in 2009 when I was working as first social media manger/e-commerce manger/film producer at a large publisher in London. There were guests coming in from other similar companies and they wanted me to share what we were doing and what we were up to.

The next step was to educate all my colleagues about what this new thing called social media was all about, as well as what’s happening in the world when we connect online and publish heaps of information online.

After this I started to talk about social media, marketing and communication for some other businesses and at Junior Chamber International (JCI). I have some kind of flow when it comes to understanding how marketing, media and PR works and which stories will get attention. It’s hard to explain how I’ve got this skill, but it seems to have been in me for many years. Maybe I see connections and angles that others don’t? I have plenty of experience from my engagement in JCI and several other membership-based organisations. The question of why someone should care about your organisation’s mission and vision is deep and complex, and it is interesting to ponder over.

Randomness leads to more randomness. I love listening to talks live. I like networking and meeting new people. This has led me to get to know lots of people, and many of these connections have in turn invited me to talk about different topics.

Now that I have some more experience under my belt and a good visual picture of how the world of professional speaking works, I feel more confident in what kind of events I should speak at.

After I started to talk about social media, I got more into speaking about leadership and wrote a book called Digital Leadership. I also started to give talks and workshops on digital leadership and creativity, and spoke about creativity and collaboration at some events. This led me into to deliver some advanced social media training for large and complex businesses in which communication is sensitive.

To open up the topic of digital leadership to a larger audience I’ve developed a talk named Digital Inspiration, which is more inclusive than leadership. Sometimes the word ‘leadership’ puts people off.

It is natural to think about branding when you communicate online, and some of my talks have a focus on branding in the digital age. What you say about yourself is as important as what others say about you.

I’ve also taught digital marketing at a university in London for MBA students. When I worked there I was responsible for four different courses.

Some of my talks are more focused on thoughtleadership, and how you develop online content that people trust. I’ve spoken about personal branding and social media. We are more exposed when we are online, and what we say online affects our personality.

I’ve been invited to talk at conferences about design where the focus has been on our life online and the questions that people ask me after my talks. Over the years I’ve been asked the most personal questions about life online, and some of them are published in my blog under ’Social Media Q&A’.

Finally, I would like to mention that all of my talks are customised to fit the audience. I’ve spoken in front of people of all ages, from teenagers up to senior citizens. My approach of combining social media, leadership and how the world is changing can work for all kinds of people.

I’ve trained directors of social media for large Asian businesses based in China. I’ve worked with companies in Nigeria, as well as providing training in companies based in the Gulf area.

This week my work led me to give a talk at Volvo’s headquarters in Sweden. I spoke about digital agility and the effective use of digital tools. What I said really resonated with the audience.

There are many areas to explore for me as a speaker and digital expert. I’m open-minded, curious and I deliver talks to all kind of organisations.

We are going to share more data every year, buy new digital devices and be more concerned about our personal brand in the future.

And we are only at the beginning of discovering all the new digital devices that are going to influence us.

One last thing to mention, I’ve coached lots of people 1-2-1 helping them prepare a new talk. It’s fun and I enjoy helping people.

If you would like to work with me you can either contact any of the speaker bureaus that I work with, or you can talk to me directly, on sofie@sofiesandell.com.

PS. I'm based in both Sweden, near Gothenburg and in London, UK.

 

About Sofie Sandell


Sofie Sandell is an international speaker who speaks about leadership, social media, marketing, personal branding and online communication. She is based in London, UK and Sweden. In 2013 Sofie published her book first book on Digital Leadership, exploring leadership, your ability to improvise and creativity as driving forces for new ideas in the digital world.

Social media and new technology have created new habits and new challenges. It’s a gift that we should use carefully and with the best intentions. Our understanding of ourselves and the world changes hugely when we connect with new technology. 

We live one life, and our online life is weaved into our real life.

Sofie runs a popular social media Q&A that raises some of the big questions about life in relation to  social media, you are welcome to email her if you have any questions hello@sofiesandell.com. 

Previously Sofie studied behavioural science, and organisation and leadership at Lund University in Sweden. Sofie is also an award-winning leader in a non-for-profit organisation. 
Copyright © 2016 The Social Media Impact Factory, All rights reserved.


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