Do you have more than one social media account? Karen McAulay discusses the pros and cons of multiple accounts - and the importance of professionalism

1. Musings by Karen McAulay

2.  Problem: Do you tweet with different
identities for different roles, or do you have
one multi-purpose persona?
 For long enough, I was @Karenmca on
Twitter, and my personal self on Facebook for
a few family members and friends.
 Then I started a Twitter account for the
library – and then we started one for our
research project.

3.  What about Twitter accounts for an online or
“real life” special interest group?
 SUDDENLY you‟re signing in/out of accounts
like a travelling salesman at Travelodge!

5.  3 working days as a music librarian
 2 working days as a postdoc researcher
 Church organist
 A head full of 18th/19th century cultural history
 And Testosterone Towers at home!

6.  True, I have a busy life!
 But don‟t look at the activities – just the
intersections
 When I use social media I can be in one zone
or straddling two (or more)
 Librarian and researcher
 Parent and musician
 Musician and librarian
 Practitioner and theorist

7.  At a plenary, we were discussing training for
good customer service.
 Afterwards, I wanted to tweet about it.
 But – which „hat‟ would I wear?
Image: New Bedford Whaling National
Historical Park, with thanks

8.  Library : What‟s good customer service?
(question for library staff or library users)
 Staff Training Plenary : Staff development
 Researcher: “Good customer service means…”
 Myself: “Being given good service in any
situation”

9.  Multiple identities – mean questions can be
targeted
 I can ask “What‟s good customer service?” and
my audience will understand the context
 I convey a better sense of my professional
priorities to others in the same field
 I can discuss things at an appropriate level
 But I may miss valuable input from people who
follow me in different capacities
 And I have to remember “who” I am at any time!

10.  The biggest disadvantage of multiple
identities:–
 Will my followers know that @Karenmca is
also
@WhittakerLib, @SALCTG, @LISresearchsupp
and co-tweeter on a music research project?
 Mostly, it‟s straightforward, but sometimes
it‟s blurred.

11.  Multiple identities, blurred, or one?
 At the end of the day, every individual is one
person with a variety of roles
 Strict separation of roles is, in my
opinion, almost impossible. I prefer the middle
ground.

12.  Predominantly using one account means you
establish your own „brand‟
 A snapshot survey of
http://Whittakerlive.blogspot.com
demonstrated that followers liked the blog‟s
personality/character
 The same applies to your own
Twitter/Facebook postings
 Doesn‟t preclude using other accounts in
specific contexts, eg the shared research
account on a very precise subject.

13.  Blogs for different purposes (you can always
make links overt where there‟s crossover)
 Keep one platform purely personal
 Have one „main‟ Twitter account and others
for specific purposes
 Professionalism – nothing embarrassingly
personal goes anywhere but your chosen
„family and friends‟ account
 Discretion – nothing compromising goes
online at all!

14. Notes – FunkyBluesMusic.com

15.  Did this presentation strike a chord?
 Tweet me @Karenmca
 Thank you.