Managing Multiple Personalities Online

This weekend I’ve been having fun trying LinkedIn’s new group discussion functionality, and it’s really promising and seems to work well, significantly increasing the value of LinkedIn Groups.

In Tweeple, LinkedIn’s Twitter group, someone asked a great question about whether to have multiple accounts on Twitter, but the questions applies equally to any Web 2.0 venue, like LinkedIn. This has also come up in the Executive’s Guide to LinkedIn seminars, whether to risk putting your side real estate business in your LinkedIn Profile, for example. Here are some quick reflections on managing many sides of yourself online.

I have been on Twitter for about a year and advise enterprise clients on Web 2.0. I am intensely interested in Twitter, as it is the leader in “mobile status” segment. More on this in Twitter: 10 Observations.

I tend to side with the argument of having one account rather than multiple. A key tenet of Web 2.0 is “authenticity,” which means loosely that you are you. But, it also means that you need to know how to manage expectations and your brand. Now, that’s easy for me to say, as I’m an independent consultant specializing in Web 2.0 strategy. Relatively easy for people, too, who have work roles that are highly aligned with online presence in progressive companies. Let’s say, though, you’re a senior manager for an audit firm who has his artsy side.

Generally speaking, it’s better to accommodate the two in one account than to have two accounts. Let’s say you go down the 2-account road. Few people online will give you much credibility if you subjugate yourself to brainless brand pushing (“corporate Twitter”) because the social context around Twitter is that you’re a “whole” “authentic” person: even though you work there, you are representing yourself in most cases, not the firm. In addition, anyone from work can find your personal account without too much trouble, so what have you gained?

Having one account makes you far more interesting because your posts reflect more sides to you, but it forces you to manage your brand while being yourself, which creates tension, but that makes it interesting. We all go through this!

The other advice that I give clients that seems to work is to think about all Web 2.0 venues as bars in which you can connect with people. Each bar has its own social context that can facilitate or detract from the type of connection you’re trying to make, and with whom. If you’re aware of this, you can use it to your significant advantage. Like choosing a restaurant to invite a client to. Depends on the client and what the business at hand is.

We’ve all been dealing with this forever offline, too. For example, if you have kids, you conduct yourself a little differently at a PTA meeting than at a football game with some old high school buddies or in the boardroom with a client. Yet you’re the same person. Of course, the wrinkle now is that online things are accessible by most people, and in retrospect. But we’re all the the same boat.

Parting Shots

• Lest any of you get confused by the fact that I have two Twitter accounts and am destined for more: it is different when you manage a Twitter account for a product or a company. For example, the Social Network Roadmap has its own Twitter account, but it doesn’t try to be a “person”; its Twitter feed is a news feed for people who want late-breaking news. Likewise, events increasingly have their own Twitter feeds.
• The Executive’s Guide to LinkedIn has its own feed, too, but hasn’t gone live yet.
• Now that I’ve weighed in, what is your experience?