Aerospace eBusiness

Personal FaceBook and Professional LinkedIn: my own practical policy June 30, 2009

When I see companies like AP rushing to develop “adhoc” social media policies with disastrous results , I keep wondering why the more practical approach I use couldn’t work for businesses.

I have always taken pride in keeping my private and professional life separate so when I came across FaceBook and LinkedIn it was natural for me to use them to support of my good habits.

Professional LinkedIn
LinkedIn is naturally suited for my professional work. It already contains my work history, my references, and my professional network. Using LinkedIn, I can develop and maintain my personal brand by participating in professional groups and answering expert questions. I can participate in and conduct surveys, extend my network, and reach out to new contacts through very beneficial introductions.

Sure, my personal friends can be in my LinkedIn network, but they should only anticipate “shop talk” from me there. I will have links to my VisualCV to showcase some of my work, my status updates will be strictly professional, and I won’t recommend anyone unless I have actually worked with them. I keep my public profile open with a nice professional picture and relevant business information for anyone interesting in talking Aerospace eBusiness with me.

Personal FaceBook
On the other hand, I keep FaceBook strictly for personal use. If you look up my name in the public directory, you will find a fun picture and a link to send me a message or request to be my friend. That is it. You will not be able to see any additional info about me, access my wall, my photos or any other information. Now, this is not the default configuration and locking down your account can be a bit tedious, but it is worth the time.

Inside FaceBook, I keep three nested “circle of friends”. At the center are my family members (at least the ones I get along with), and other close friends. They have access to everything. The next layer contains my regular friends who have access to my wall, my posts and most of my pictures (they don’t need to see my grand father’s funeral). Finally, I have a last group that I would describe as acquaintances, and I restrict them to my status, basic wall posts and a few picture albums. I make sure to set the access rights for each photo album I create and application I join, but using friend groups, it is pretty easy.

If a business colleague sends me a friend request on FaceBook, I decline it and send them back a message telling them that I am reserving FaceBook for personal use and ask them to connect on LinkedIn. I regularly review my friends list and “purge” connections that do not contribute or that I find little interest in staying connected with. Remember that no one gets a note if you drop them (guilt free!).

By keeping my FaceBook private, it allows me to interact with people specifically in a “non-business” capacity. I can express my opinions independently and associate with people I enjoy outside of work. On LinkedIn, I then interact in a professional manner conducting myself with the rules and policies appropriate for such platform.

“Clean” Business Policy
If corporations used this model to guide and educate their employees it would make social media policies much simpler. They could encourage the use of LinkedIn for professional purposes (e.g. customer forums, working groups, etc…). Companies worried about compliance could go as far as having their employees declare their FaceBook account to verify that they have them locked down.

It would also help companies wanting to be active in the Social Media scene to choose the right platform. Consumer oriented companies would want to have FaceBook pages, while companies targeting employees and corporations would focus more on LinkedIn.

What about Twitter?
For Twitter, I would follow a similar model. Since they allow multiple accounts, you should have one account for professional updates and discussions, and a separate one for personal matters. Although you could “lock” your personal twitter account (limiting the followers), I think that would defeat the purpose of the tool. I would simply keep things separate and try not to embarrass myself (or my employer) on the personal account. Always remember that Riesling and Twitting don’t mix!