Social Media: Company Accounts vs. Personal Accounts?

I was reading Ted Murphy’s blog post about his take on CEOs having personal blogs and being on Twitter. While he made many great points, I feel the strongest one is this:
“The IZEA blog is focused on things relevant to IZEA and our community. Ted.me is filled with content relevant to me and my personal thoughts about the world around us. While there is some overlap in audience each blog has a different message and bond with the reader.”
This is a very important ‘rule’ that companies of all sizes need to understand. If you or any of your employees want to talk about personal perceptions, observations, or beliefs, those should be posted on a personal outlet, not the company’s.  The company needs to have a unified voice of perception and practices. This unity conveys the company’s personality and provides insight to the customer of what they will experience when they do business with you.

Businesses are made up of people and people like to know what to expect. Some surprises are good, but when it comes down to it people will purchase products or services from a place that they know what the experience will be ahead of time. A great example of this is when people travel, they are more likely to eat at a familiar chain restaurant than trying a little hole in wall—because they already know what the experience will be. They already know the quality of food, the level of service, what will be on the menu and the environment.

So help your clients ‘know’ what to expect. Help them feel the personality of your company. Employee input and participation is invaluable, but too much or the wrong approach can hurt the company.
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