Caution About Twitter and Other Social Networks

Twitter, YouTube, MySpace­— these are not the only social networks but they are some of the most popular and what I am about to say applies for all of them.

In the beginning, it seems that social networks were meant to be just that—tools that allow people to be social. It’s not likely that the original intent was for social networks to evolve into the commercial tools that they have become.

Twitter for instance, is tool that allows people to inform each other what they are doing. Users type in quick blips, such as Just finished reading The Alchemist. Great book.

But intent has no bearing on reality. Social networks are as much motive-driven tools as they are anything else. A lot of people still use Twitter and MySpace to communicate with friends but a lot of people use these sites to pursue or expand their professional and business goals. And if you are one of those people, you need to exercise caution.

The Name Game

The first and main, (and yet to be resolved) gripe that I have with social networks is that every one I have found is designed with the same flaw—they are not like my dentist; they are not like my gynecologist. Social networks don’t unconditionally allow me to be who I am.

I have a very common name. Wherever I go— the gynecologist, the library, the dentist— there are a list of people with the same name as me. My identity always has to be confirmed by a secondary measure. But still, I am allowed to be me. I have never been told, sorry you are going to have to choose an alternate id. But social networks do this and it can result in complications professionally.

A lot of people who use social networks are building a brand. I, for example, use social networks to attract readers to my website MS Writer. So, it defeats my purpose if someone else on Twitter has the name MS Writer and I am forced to identify myself as silly alternate. It really defeats my brand building goals if I choose one name on Twitter, then go to Facebook and both MS Writer and my alternate are already taken and I have to choose a third name.

Therefore, if you are planning to use social networks as one of your primary marketing tools and you are just starting, you may want to consider signing up with social networks first and then build the name of your brand accordingly for consistency’s sake.

If your brand exists before your interest in social networks, try to pick something as close to your brand name as possible. Check the name’s availability on all social sites you’re planning to use. And keep professionalism in mind according to the type of business you have. Imagine if John McCain’s Twitter id was J-Mac or President Obama’s was O-bomb.

Professionalism on Display

It is easy to get caught up in the lighter side of social networking even though your primary purpose is business. Depending on what your business is, this may be okay or it can be very counter-productive.

On Twitter, for example, I follow some users specifically because they are bright, colorful and entertaining. I log into my account and expect to see something funny or outrageous or entertaining from these people. Many of them do have businesses but they have businesses where their personalities do no damage and do not discredit them.

I follow other users on Twitter for serious purposes. I follow the New York Times and several other sources for information. And this is what I expect from them. I don’t expect an editor from the New York Times to tweet that her cat just threw up. If I go to Reverend Al Sharpton’s MySpace page, I don’t expect to see snapshots of Britney Spears without panties. (This is a double standard I know, but it stands.)

So, it is important to decide what type of business you are running, who you are trying to attract, what they expect of you and how much your personality is meant to contribute to that business. If you don’t think about these things, you could be destroying what you are trying to build.