Today at work I listened in on a discussion about using social media for work. It was an interesting conversation but what caught my attention was a quick Q&A about separating personal from professional on various social channels. The questioner asked the presenters if they should create separate social channels for personal and professional (i.e. a Twitter account for personal and another one for work). The presenters quickly responded they believed that separate accounts and channels is the way to go and it’s how they handle their personal and professional lives online.
I respectfully disagree with this approach.
Each social network (Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, etc.) has it’s own distinct purpose and usefulness. Instead of splitting my personal and professional personalities into multiple accounts on the same social channel, I use each social channel in a specific and distinct way. Interested in this method? Keep reading…
Twitter: This is my public channel. I tweet a mix of personal and professional information here. I use Twitter as my every day news source, communication channel with the world at large and connecting with friends, family, acquaintances and total strangers. If you don’t know me – personally or professionally – but want to see what I talk about “out loud,” this is the channel that you want to use to connect with me. It’s the channel where I’m open to connecting with anyone and everyone. I follow back anyone who’s tweets look interesting and you’re not a bot. Yes, I check the profile of everyone who follows me before I follow them back.
Google+: This is a mix of public and private. Primarily, I use Google+ to participate in discussions around personal and professional topics that I’m interested in. Secondarily, I use this channel to send private messages to friends, family and coworkers as well as share some public information in the form of posts. You can follow me here as well, though there’s not much to see unless you’re in the other groups that I participate in. I follow back anyone who’s profile is complete and gives me a sense of who you are. Yes, I check the profile of everyone who follows me before I follow them back.
LinkedIn: This is my professional channel. I use LinkedIn as a way to connect with current and past colleagues and others that I have a familiarity with their professional histories. I don’t discuss anything “personal” here. It’s all business all the time. And, while there are some family and friends on my connection list on LinkedIn, it’s only the folks with whom I know their professional experience and history. If I’ve never spoken to you or worked with you, odds are almost nonexistent that I will accept a connection invitation from you. There are exceptions but they’re few and far between. Yes, I check the profiles of everyone who sends me a connect invite and I accept the invitation if you fall into my professional category.
Facebook: Friends and family. Period. End of story. Facebook is where I’ll share goofy stories, pictures of my dogs and my nephew and generally just chill out with people I know in the real, face-to-face world. Yes, there are some “work” friends on my Facebook friends list, but they’re actual friends and they don’t report to me in a professional setting. It’s not a hard and fast rule, but I tend to steer my “work only” friends to LinkedIn or Twitter to connect with me. Yes, I check the profile of everyone who sends me a friend request. I reject way more friend requests than I accept.
In a way, I guess this is a splitting my personality but there is overlap on each channel. For example, I often post professional information and stuff on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Personal information often gets cross pollinated between Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Sometimes it’s just one channel and none of the others. It really is a judgment call for each status, link or musing that I decide to throw out into the virtual world that most of us are living in every day.
In the end, it all comes down to personal branding. You are who you are – whether you’re at work or at home. But with a little bit of thought behind each tweet, post or status update, your personal and professional networks can have a complete picture of who you are and what you’re all about. Cool concept, right?
How do you deal with personal and professional online? Do you follow my theory that each social channel has its own audience and purpose? Or do you create “you at work” account and “you at home” account on the same social channel? Shout it out and let’s here how you handle your split personality…
Note: For those of you paying attention, yes, Twitter is my favorite and most-used social channel. Feel free to connect with me there: @shartlen.
Related Reading:
- How To Build A Personal Brand While Job Hunting (Inc., December 1, 2014)
- Should I Accept My Coworker’s Facebook Friend Request? (Fast Company, November 11, 2014)