there's only one of me; so there's only one of me on twitter.
I recently asked the question on the ms. rasberry inc. Facebook page “Do you have separate Facebook and/or Twitter accounts for business and personal use?” I was the only person that responded that I have one account for each. Am I an anomaly?
When I first became acquainted with the wonder that is Twitter, I had one account and it was private. I hadn’t quite yet figured out how I was going to leverage this tool and felt like I didn’t want any and everyone accessing my tweets. I soon discovered how boring that makes it. Additionally, it’s more difficult to engage the masses and I had to log onto Twitter.com to approve follow requests which was annoying. So I unlocked my account and life in the Twitterverse became a lot more interesting.
Soon thereafter, I decided that I should have multiple accounts to share different content. At one point, I had a whopping total of FOUR Twitter accounts. Several months ago, I decided to consolidate and maintain only one account. You may be thinking, “don’t you want to maintain separation between your personal and professional lives and varied interests?” My answer to that is “No; I don’t. Not anymore.” After all, I have nothing to hide.
When it comes to branding, I am my brand. ms. rasberry inc. is ME. So I have no issue with my Twitter account reflecting that. Having separate accounts gives comfort to some; but I began to realize that it was somewhat disingenuous. It allowed me to pick and choose who saw what to the nth degree. Having separate accounts began to feel to me like wearing a mask and I didn’t want to do it anymore. So I stopped.
Will having one account work for you? Maybe; maybe not. As an individual, you have to consider your overall situation (work, family, etc.). As a business owner, you have to consider your business goals and intended audience. In either case, ask yourself Who am I tweeting to? What am I tweeting about? Is there any conflicting interest? I no longer have the added weight of being associated with an employer who might take offense at something I say. I also don’t tweet highly sexual content or profanity laced tirades. For people who have those concerns, having separate accounts may be their best bet. Another option is to have a private (locked) account that allows you control over who follows you. I know several people who don’t necessarily tweet anything outlandish, but in this day and age of potential (and current) employers checking social profiles, I suppose they figure it’s better to be safe than sorry. I can respect that. It’s just not for me. I highly recommend that business owners not have locked accounts though, at least not your “business” account if you have separate ones. You want people to be able to access your content readily.
A while ago I wrote a post on tattoos and not wanting to work for any employer that would have an issue with me having one. I could say the same thing about anyone who will make a biased judgment against me based on a snapshot of my Twitter feed at any given time. For example, I participated in a lengthy discourse about Christopher Meloni (Elliot Stabler) leaving Law&Order:SVU. If you saw my Twitter feed during that exchange you would know that I think the show will fail without him. Would you make a decision on my qualifications or services based on that? I sure hope not. However; if you did, I probably wouldn’t want to work with you anyway. Unless, of course, the bias was in my favor. 
I discuss a range of topics, so my Twitter account will give you an idea of how I think and what interests me. It’s still not the complete picture though, which I’m sure can be said for anyone. My Twitter bio tells you what I do. Have specific questions about me, my business/services? Just ask. I’ll be more than happy to answer. Yes; I can manage your social outposts. Yes; I can build a WordPress site for you. Yes; I can write articles or blog posts for you. I will tweet about those things; but I will also tweet about my favorite artists, events I’m attending, etc. I will also tweet about my makeup/image consulting sessions. I’m multi-faceted and so are my tweets. Who says business and pleasure can’t peacefully coexist? Certainly not I. Follow me @msrasberryinc and join the conversation.
Do you have separate business/personal/other Twitter accounts? Why or why not?
YES! This post is a breath of fresh air.
The second to the last paragraph is THE TRUTH. Sadly, many employers make hiring decisions based on personal preferences they have that are incongruent with their prospects and NOT on qualifications or who that person is. However, who’d want to work for a place that does that? No quality long term career can be expected from that. Same goes for someone who thinks somehow you can’t do business well and exceed their needs because you also tweet about a show. To me that is incredibly illogical thinking and people who think that way would probably not make good clients. Seth Godin writes that we “hire” our clients too…its’ not just a 1 way relationship of orders barked and we say yes, all while hiding who we truly are out of fear. Good client relationships are based on the recognition of humanity in all involved, the desire for a good product and service and the person being able to deliver it, with a good experience.
I’ve had many of my peers insult me for discussion people and culture, both the thorns and petals, despite the fact that I photograph people and culture. Some think Twitter is for business self-promotion, self aggrandizing bragging and selling products. I rather engage in passionate discussion on the things that matter to me and the kind of people who hire me beyond the photograph itself, though I share information as well. While social media can never fully encapsulate who a person is, going through extended lengths to further hide who you are seems tiring to me. Not sure why people bother using social media then if this is the case.
I am glad to see that someone else views integrity and being who you are as actual integrity and being who you are, versus creating a fallacious semi-appearance and calling that a brand. Geoff Livingston and Olivier Blanchard have a GREAT post on this exact problem. Good post, thanks for sharing.
Trudy recently posted..The Truvolution Will Be Tumblrized
Thanks so much for your comment, Trudy. Of course different things work for different people, but tweeting all marketing stuff or 100% about one topic just won’t work for me. Glad to see I’m not the only one.
Nice post! I have two twitter accounts one from college and social media one. However, they’ve morphed into one. I’ve discovered people like interacting with me when I’m myself. No one wants a stuffy rss feed. I do keep in mind my audience but like you I have nothing to hide!
Thanks for your comment, Adrienne. It’s definitely much more interesting to engage with a person, even a person representing a business, than to just have articles ,quotes and sales pitches hurled at you. Common sense, personal preference and social goals should guide.
Great post! I have and continue to go back and forth with this one. For me, it’s Branding vs. Freedom. As the Principal for my business venture, I would hate to waste the great and virtually free.99 opportunity that a business social media account offers. As a very opinionated social butterfly with varied interests, I want to “enjoy” social media as much as my friends and those I follow….the freedom, oh the freedom. However, with one account, can I truly say what I feel about the presidential candidates, express my appreciation of gangster rap, or just deliver randomness? Sure, I can, but at what risk? One day I’ll have to decide. I doubt it will be tomorrow though.
Thanks so much for your comment, Tiffany! I feel you. I’m still committed to having only one account but every once in a while I find myself wondering if it’s done me any harm, business-wise. At the end of the day though, I feel my beliefs, opinions and hobbies are what they are whether or not I tweet about them. If someone chooses not to hire or work with me because I dare to have an opinion about something that’s not directly business related, we probably wouldn’t work well together anyway. That being said, I can still see an argument for having separate accounts and for some folks I’d recommend doing so.