Social Media: Public vs. Private.

 Photo via Death to the Stock Photo

An interesting thing is happening on the Internet, and maybe you've noticed the same.  People I know who run small businesses are opting to open separate personal social media accounts and making them private.  For instance, their business will have a Twitter account, and then they will have another one under their own name.  I'm seeing this more and more, and it got me thinking about the reasons why someone would choose to do this- it seems like a lot of work to keep up with two accounts.

As a businessperson, I feel like part of the reason for using social media is for people to get to know you better, so if you are a business, especially a single-person business like so many of us creatives are, it seems like it would be good to let your personality come out through your social media in order to connect with the public.  On the other hand, I totally understand wanting a divide: just because you are somewhat of a public entity through your business does not make your entire life public. In that situation, you have to decide what you're going to put out there and what you're not and you have to make sure not to overstep your line.

Personally, I only have one set of everything. Part of that is because it's too much of a pain for me to try and remember to switch accounts, and part of it gives me a gentle reminder that I don't, indeed, need to share everything. I keep my kids out of my social media for the most part, barely any photos and I try to only mention them when it's something frustrating or funny. You don't really need to know their favorite foods, and many of you probably don't even care. For me it's just keeping and maintaining a simple divide. I have to remember that I am a business and that I want to keep things a little more formal.

However, I know there are people out there that use social media as a form of contact with relatives who are far away, in which case, personal, private accounts are a good idea. Some people want to keep up a certain persona for business and then not worry about their commentary with friends and family.  And then there are those people who are just more open about their lives in general and who don't worry about making a divide between the two. I love that attitude of what you see is what you get, and it makes for interesting reading.

So I ask you- do you think businesses should stick to business and make a personal account for personal use?  What types of things should be held back in public?  What types of personal things should businesses share?  Do you have separate accounts and why?