We’re all complex people…at least the majority of us are. We have a bevy of unique interests and our personal and professional lives are often a semi-overlapping set of personas. This can become complicated when trying to figure out a Social Media strategy that works both personally and professionally. How in the world does one achieve balance?
For the sake of this conversation I’d like to stay in the realm of Twitter. Facebook is relevant too, but that conversation revolves around privacy settings, groups and leveraging the full potential of friends lists within ONE ACCOUNT. I want to talk about multiple accounts as a potential solution to Multiple Online Personality Disorder…
I’d like to start off with saying that you might not need multiple Twitter accounts at all. One account with several lists might be enough. For me, that just became unsustainable. There were too many topics I wanted to talk about and one account became too noisy and unfocused.
So I’ll tell you why, based on my experience, it might be a good idea to split a Twitter existence into pieces.
You’re an aggregator and a curator…across many different topics
…and 20 lists simply isn’t enough. I personally like to curate the best of X,Y and Z. When I tried to do it all on my primary account @jgibbard it just got too noisy and I found myself forgetting why I had the account in the first place.
I love sports but what does a tweet to Jeremy Maclin have to do with the latest and greatest in Social Media? Nothing really except that an athlete is using Twitter. I love certain TV shows, actors and music but the people who follow me don’t do it to watch me tweet back and forth with Common or Jeff Winger from Community.
I created specific accounts, for specific topics and built lists within those accounts for those interests. It makes it easy. When I want to talk sports and read sports, I go to my @mysportsbuddy
I manage everything under one roof…Hootsuite Pro. It’s the best $6/month that I spend. Looking for a free option, try Seesmic or Tweetdeck.
Professional interests and Personal interests may clash
…or just don’t relate to one another.
I’m all for being yourself. It’s a hallmark of successful social media, authenticity. That doesn’t mean there aren’t times where one version of being yourself isn’t welcome in other areas of your life.
For instance, politics and religion are awful conversations to have between friends, it’s probably best to leave it out of Twitter too. Unless that’s your business–i.e. you’re a politics analyst, pundit or activist. Bringing those subjects into your world when you are a banker might not be the best move. Tagging posts with #tcot or #tlot might make a terrible impression on people in your professional Twitter network, like if you are the CEO of a shoe company. Whether you are far left, far right or offensively moderate it is a good thing to segment this part of your life from your professional life.
From my tweets you’d be hard-pressed to tell what side of the political spectrum I play on, and for me, that’s exactly how I intend to keep it. It’s not all that important to my Social Media profession. All it can really do is turn people off, so I stay away. I made myself a nice little anonymous Twitter account where I can rant and rave, share news or engage in political conversations.
Maybe you just need a Professional Persona and Personal Persona
My primary account, @jgibbard, isn’t exactly a personal account and it isn’t exactly a professional account. It’s a nice blend of both. Unfortunately my opinions and conversations on my primary account aren’t always the most appropriate representation of my employer. It’s not that I’m swearing up a storm but I can’t control what conversations other people start and I felt it best to create a Professional account that I could craft entirely to suit my role at Devine + Powers: @jgibbard_dp
This is not for everyone. In fact, it wasn’t until recently that I felt that need for this.
Here’s how I divided everything up:
@jgibbard – Main account, personal, professional, Social Media-focused
@jgibbard_dp – Jeff Gibbard, Director of the Social Media Practice Group for Devine + Powers, discussing Social Media and PR
@jglifestream – Aggregation of everything I do online. Everything. Personal blog, Check-ins, Flickr, YouTube, Professional Blog, etc. It’s a lifestream.
@smphilanthropy – Auto-feed of my Social Media blog and my Social Media Tumblog
@djgibbard – All about music, what I’m listening to, and who I like.
@mytechbuddy – All my favorite Tech news.
@myrssbuddy – All my favorite Blogs.
@mysportsbuddy – All my favorite teams and sports news.
+ 3 others
Do you divide your Twitter existence? Do you see value in it?