Is Twitter/Facebook a liability?

Jason Adams

Jason Adams

Section Moderator
Does anyone twitter and have clients that follow them. I am getting a number of my clients on Twitter and Facebook and I am starting to wonder if it is a good thing for my clients to have such an open door into my daily business and personal life?

It has been a fantastic networking tool and seeing pics and updates of clients kids is always a great ice breaker and relationship builder, but is there a dark side to all this accessibility?
 
I think it all depends on how transparent you are about your personal life with your clients anyways. If you dont do things and post them on facebook etc (or do things that your friends post on facebook) that you dont wish your clients to know about I think you are ok. I also figure that if they are on facebook they are obviously open to having vendors and clients see their personal lives so they see the situation in a similiar light. If a client leaves you because you have pics of yourself at a bar on your facebook then I think you are probably better for it.
 
Oh, there's a dark side. It's kind of a double-edged sword. I know employers who check up on employees through Facebook. Summer camp directors keep tabs on their counselors through Facebook. It can be a good thing, and it can bite you in the arse.

But, that's what limited profile settings, per Facebook friend, are for.

That said, I really don't understand the need to put so much detailed insight into one's personal life up on Facebook in the first place. I know people who post their drunk pics everyday, and I just don't get it. Once it's on the 'Net, it's there to stay even if you delete it from your profile. There's nothing on my FB profile that I wouldn't want my mother to see.
 
I haven't seen twitter, but I am on Facebook.

I'll say this. If you do facebook, do a separate account for you business than for personal. And C2V is exactly right. Don't put anything online that you wouldn't want your mom or wife to see. Most of my clients are teens (I coach soccer) so I am VERY particular about what goes up.

Facebook is probably the best sharing site out there, and has real implications for business use as well as personal.
 
I haven't really bought the whole "Internet threatens our privacy" thing...until recently. I'm starting to find that my life is increasingly exposed on the internet. It's easy for people to connect the dots and access all kinds of personal information, and Facebook can be especially risky. And yet more people are using this for business than ever. (I actually got a job offer via Facebook. Ugh!) It's starting to bother me.
 
I use Facebook as a personal tool, not a professional one.

I intentionally don't "friend" people who I work with on a real money, real business basis. I am sure everyone is different, but I like the social aspect of FB (I am in college) and I think it is pretty unprofessional to do business though that portal. I would never contact someone about a job though there and would be weary about job offers coming in the form of messages on Facebook.

To each their own though.
 
Facebook has been an amazing networking tool for me. My first couple of music video clients found out about me because their friends were tagged in videos i uploaded. As a result, I always add anyone that requests me as a friend, because they could be potential clients too.

But I have nothing to hide. I run a music video production company that prides itself on being cool! Yes I friggin drink and do other things I won't mention here.. heh. If my clients think that has anything other than a positive effect on my creativity and work ethic then I don't want them as clients anyways!! I really, REALLY, hate having to hide who i am or pretend to be someone I'm not.

Let me put it this way. I have clients come to my house to view progress on their videos. I have a huge marijuana flag hanging from my wall.

And yeah, it's a huge ice breaker. heh.
 
yeah but there's no avoiding that Robbie.. even if you dont post them yourself, you're bound to get tagged!
 
I think it's a question of how you approach it. I'm not on facebook, but we started a myspace page for a film we are working on a couple of years ago. Nothing goes on that page that is not related to the film. I would never include any content that is more personal than would go on your professional website.
 
I reluctantly got on Facebook after a co-worker insisted that I do so. Since then I really don't post a whole lot of details, just a few pics of the dogs and such. A few things that are kind of annoying; the constant friend requests from folks who I haven't spoken to in 20 years (ok, I might be a grinch, but I'm tired of rehashing what I've been doing for the past two decades). I also get annoyed with friends posting pictures of me from high school (embarrassingly 80's themed), or pics of me at the bar.
 
I have a facebook fan page for my company, and a personal profile for myself. I also have myspace page for my company.

Thats three separate places I can get my videos seen so what could be bad about that!? ha ha.. i think that if you are trying to be professional then yeah, dont' post anything you wouldnt want your clients to see. simple as that.
 
Jim Brennan said:
I think it's a question of how you approach it. I'm not on facebook, but we started a myspace page for a film we are working on a couple of years ago. Nothing goes on that page that is not related to the film. I would never include any content that is more personal than would go on your professional website.
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That's a good point. "Wages of Sin" and "Divinity" both have groups. I'm new to it and now I'm thinking maybe I should've done a basic page versus groups but then again the groups are doing pretty well. I'm using it for casting and have gotten some good talent from there including Deneen. If I want to know something you can just look at the wall if that info is there. But with this in mind be people should be careful what they say to people on those sites too. Something we say to someone can be on a "Wall" for quite a long time. I was going to use both Myspace and Facebook but Facebook just made it all so easy.

Chris Stearns said:
I also get annoyed with friends posting pictures of me from high school (embarrassingly 80's themed), or pics of me at the bar.
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There's pics of my at one of my producer's premier parties and I look totally insane. LOL.

-Nate
 
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