Do you need separate personal and professional Twitter accounts?
Is it necessary to separate your personal life from business on Twitter? This author offers his opinion, as well as five types of corporate Twitter accounts.
Someone recently asked me a common question: “I like to tweet with my friends, but I also tweet for my company. Do I need two Twitter accounts?”
It’s a great question.
What is the proper balance between personal and professional outreach on Twitter? If you are using an account to promote company and client content, is it appropriate to have personal conversations about sports, recipes or your favorite charity? Do you need two accounts?
I’ll address this question on two levels: philosophical and practical.
Twitter’s networking power
Twitter has many uses, but when it comes to business, Twitter is a powerful networking tool. Many companies and individuals don’t understand this. They view Twitter as just another way to broadcast company advertising and press releases. By trying to force-fit old media thinking into this 21st -century platform, they are sub-optimizing Twitter at best and hurting their brands at worst.
Think of yourself in a networking situation, say, an industry conference or chamber of commerce meeting. Would you stand there and read press releases?
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