December 30, 2009
Posted by Kelly Rusk
Managing Twitter-induced multiple personality disorder
Have you found yourself with multiple twitter accounts? Perhaps you’re managing a corporate account for work and a personal one, or one for a specific purpose, for an event or whatever else. The reality is twitter-induced multiple personality disorder is real, and it can happen to you…
I’m now at four accounts. My personal one which is obviously the most used. My corporate account, for MediaMiser, that is strictly PR/measurement focused, OttawaTweetJobs – which is simply a twitter-powered local job board, and OttSMbookclub which will soon just auto-post the feed from the Ottawa Social Media Book Club site.
Although each is clearly defined (at least in my mind) I still run into problems. I miss the simple days when I had only one account, but change and progress is good, so we carry on.
So I’m definitely not perfect at managing multiple accounts, but here are my tips to prevent multiple accounts from driving you crazy:
- Use a good app for multiple accounts: This will likely depend on your own preferences, for example, I’m not a fan of Tweetdeck, but everyone else seems to be so it may be right for you–definitely explore your options first. My favourite is Tweetie for Mac (I also use Tweetie for iPhone). Unfortunately it’s not available on a PC. Mashable has a list of 25 multiple account Twitter apps, so I suggest you start there and find one you really like.
- Have a clear purpose for each account: If you have multiple accounts covering similar content you may be unnecessarily splitting your audience. However there may be a bit of overlap. Since my background is PR, it’s obviously something of personal interest, but fits better with my corporate account. If I find something I really like for both accounts (and audiences), I’ll simply retweet myself from one to another. However don’t do this too often, it’s a little weird.
- Clearly define shared accounts: If you aren’t the only one using a Twitter account (shared corporate accounts are common) make sure you and the other contributors define your roles within the account. Also I’m a firm believer in making personal connections, even in a corporate account so identify each contributor via the bio or a custom Twitter background and consider signing each tweet with initials.
- Consider if it’s really necessary: If you own your own business and are certainly not leaving it, you may have one account for both your business and personal life. I mean, if you’re like most entrepreneurs, your personal and professional life probably go hand in hand. The reason I have separate accounts is there’s a strong possibility I’ll leave my job one day and the company will lose the relationships and followers I’ve built up. But if it doesn’t make sense, keep it simple.
Do you have any other helpful tips? Have you run into Twitter-induced multiple personality disorder? Tell me about it here!
