Twitter is great, just don’t make an Elon Musk-sized mistake

Despite a staggering $20m personal fine from the US finance watchdog the SEC and the loss of his chairmanship at Tesla for an errant tweet, we learned last week that Elon Musk’s 280-character updates have won the approval of Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, aka @Jack.

“He’s focused on solving existential problems and sharing his thinking openly,” the social media boss said. “I respect that a lot, and all the ups and downs that come with it.”

Dorsey faced his own Twtter PR crisis last year when he tweeted about his wonderful break to a “meditation retreat” in Myanmar, ignoring the hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing human rights abuses in the country that the UN said amounts to genocide.

Most chief executives would not make a Musk-like mistake. But they’d be forgiven for having reservations about mixing personal interests with company brand strategy as one of 321m users on Twitter. While most business leaders have embraced the 12-year-old networking service, many are still on the periphery, digesting the information in front of them and engaging with the odd retweet.

But despite the potential pitfalls, there is so much more to be gained from fully embracing Twitter.

It can be a great platform to be part of the conversation in your field of expertise, and a brilliant way to build your own brand as well as your organisation’s – after all, one of the key questions an investor will consider is “why back this management team?”, while an employee will ask, “is my career safe in the hands of this leader?”.

So what are the rules for using Twitter well, and what should you avoid?

Twitter, despite its mammoth size, is effectively made up of little villages – ones that are limited to 280 characters.

Sometimes these communities can be retweeted into other groupings, but for the most part “business Twitter” and its sub-sections don’t mix with the lovely people over at “sports Twitter”.

Those who regularly update their feeds with information and make comments relevant to their audience will enjoy better engagement. If you do want to show off your latest gym gains or your child’s school play, it may be worth creating a second, personal Twitter account.

That said, a light-hearted comment or two can show your human side to your followers. Your online personality is an extension of your own, not a totally different one.

Understandably, many business leaders have decided that Twitter is not for them. I recognise that the fear of commenting in the “wrong” way can fill some users with dread. While you’re unlikely to land yourself with a $20m fine, there is a need for restraint. Remember that you are effectively just a one-person publishing house.

It’s advisable to think twice – or maybe 20 million times – if you are going to publish something even slightly negative or derogatory. It’s a cliche because it’s true: nothing ever gets deleted from the internet.

We can’t all be Jack’s favourite tweeter (and given what happened to Musk, we shouldn’t try), but we’re all capable of boosting our personal and corporate brand while staying informed and involved in the relevant conversations beyond traditional media channels. And if all else fails, enjoy the memes and cat videos.