Are clients your friends on Facebook? Do you follow your clients on Twitter?

[nannynick]

Social media has become a tool which can be useful and can have side affects. If we post something on Facebook/Twitter, other people can see it. If they post something, we can see what they write.

Is this a good thing? What are the problems with doing it?

I post updates on Twitter as to what I'm doing. Anyone can follow those tweets. I don't tend to use Facebook much.

How about you... do you use Social media? Are there any downsides to using it?

My largest client has Facebook and Twitter. I have personal accounts on both but am not friends with/do not follow them.

If I had a professional account with either I probably would.

Twitter - No. DH does it for work.
Facebook = friends
Linkedin = work contacts.

Work contacts do not want to know that I just put my christmas tree up.
Friends do not want to know which HMRC consultations I'm doing.

Sounds like having clients as friends on facebook is a bad idea then.

It depends what you do
it also depends on your social life.
I'd rather clients did not see some of the old festival pics that friends have tagged me in!
I'm not linked to many colleagues on FB either....
You have to remember that most people have their settings as "friends of friends" so a HUGE number of people can read your antics.

On the other hand Linkedin is great for strategic connections to people you know vaguely.
I've connected to the current manager of a place I helped set up 20 years ago. He knows my name for the archive files. Our connections are a good fit.

I've joined LinkedIn but haven't got to grips with it. Are there any basic guides on the net anywhere for how to use Linkedin?

I'm selective, I use it mostly to keep in touch with my family in the UK (I'm in Italy) and therefore want to be free to say what I want when I want. Generally I only allow those students who I know will either not understand or not care what I say. That said I am always careful what I say. It is a good way to fix appointments with students though.

I started off advertising cakes from my personal facebook and it has worked brilliantly. Most of those people I sold to through facebook were initially friends or friends of friends. However, now I have started reaching a wider audience by going to fairs and things, I have set up a business facebook page. Any new clients will be added to the business facebook page, but not my personal one. I think the lines to get blurred otherwise.

Nannynick, why not set up a business page, you can get people to put reviews on there and put pics up, plus put regular news updates on just as you would a personal site. It doesnt cost anything to set up and is quick to do

*do get blurred

Nannynick
Linkedin is great but different....
Before kids I worked for many years in accountancy firms so I started with former colleagues
and a few business type friends
and some family
and let it build from there
the "networks" - university alumni, magazines etc are v v useful
now I'm being approached by people who know people I know, offering work. RESULT

I do use Facebook but mainly as a business tool (indirectly). I 'like' customers pages, clients company pages, key brands, key personnel and it helps me see how people are using fb for marketing and what is going on in the industry and with the market iyswim.

I do have friends but use if passively rather than actively for my social life. I don't post status updates or photos but I do comment / like / message people now and again.

I can't really get to grips with Twitter - not in that way but I don't find it very engaging as a tool and struggle to see how useful it is unless you are World Famous or Renowned in Your Field.

Most of the people sharing useful info on Twitter link it to their Linked In or FB accounts so I follow them there.

I was a self employed travel agent and I had a Facebook business page - I found it good for letting people know about deals, and actually, unexpectedly, as I didn't really think it would work, I got a lot of business through it. Sadly, ill-health has meant I've had to give up work for now.

I have multiple personalities:

Twitter and Linked in - professional, reserved
Facebook - people I know/have known in real life, mainly anodyne stuff
Mumsnet -anonymous and opinionated!

I do have some people who I know on a professional basis on Facebook, but only people I have been drunk with in RL.

Himalaya

I'm similar - this name is dotted around forums all over the place
But several of my FB friends are people I met on forums but have not actually met!
My web designer I "met" on ebay - will have to see other than pictures of him some time!!

The main thing I did was to set this name up everywhere I'm likely to post so that other people do not get to do my stirring for me

Twitter - I see peoples twitter feeds through their linkedin / FB : the INANITY. Really cannot be doing with it. How often do you actually log into the site to see what drivel all the people you follow have written in the last 25 minutes ? The screen turnover is SO fast, and you cannot have a conversation.