This is a challenge that I've attacked from several angles. I have my personal Twitter account which I use to follow and interact with friends and tweeters that cover a broad range of my personal and professional interests. I have two further shared accounts associated with my comms agency and my community interest company on both Twitter and Facebook. I also have a personal Facebook account linked to my personal Twitter account (which is just lazy social media) and is the account I reserve mainly for sharing pointless pictures of me and our dog or arranging meet ups with actual, real live friends.
So does this approach work? Well, the answer is, it works well enough for me for now. I get leads through the specific business-focused accounts and I make and maintain connections with lots of interesting people through the others. I know there is untapped potential in accounts that don't have professional social media communications staff helping me look after. I have interacted with and built working relationships with clients I would never have met if it weren't for having a social media presence.
My comms agency helps clients set up and in some cases manage social media profiles. Some sectors are more suited to it than others. Business to business profiles can be hugely successful and it has massive potential when appropriately resourced. On a personal level I loathed the whole idea of social media when it was new but I have seen it in action for both political and commercial purposes with impressive results. It is at the same time self-promoting, narcissistic, empowering, liberating, philanthropic, capitalistic, inane and profound. It can and should be whatever individuals and organisations choose it to be - and for portfolio careerists, that may well be several things at once!
Photo attribution: With thanks to Thos Ballantyne
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