Thursday, June 18, 2009

Real life, just around the corner

I've been using Twitter with gay abandon. I subscribe to the view that you've got to immerse yourselves in this kind of thing if you're in any kind of business that views communication as important.

Phil Jones has blogged on this quite a lot - this is his best summary yet - here.

Then there's this from Pav at the Oldham Chron. "It all sounds just a bit seedy if you ask me." Oh dear.

I also bow to the much greater judgement of Matthew (aged 7) and Elliot (aged 4) about their social network - Club Penguin. Why do you go on it boys?- "because of the Puffles and because of the fun". Good enough for me, chaps. You carry on.

There's a view that some people keep separate identities for work and the rest. I think it's a sensitive and important area to consider, but I draw the line at being anonymous. I only have the daft name Marple Leaf on Twitter because my real name and various versions of it were taken. Michael is the fourth most common name of English speaking men of my age, Taylor is the third.

I liken it to going to a business networking event. I gave up drinking at these things a while ago, for example, so have developed methods of moderating my behaviour. I do put my serious head on, but I always end up breaking the ice and talking like a human being. There are also so many areas where real life and work life collide. Yesterday, for example, I had lunch with the chairman of Mountfield Rovers Junior Football Club in his capacity as someone important around Manchester. Sure, it was important for our respective businesses, but we get on as human beings because we have a common link around our other roles as fathers and "football people".

Similarly, my Twitter followers and people I follow represent all areas of my life. They include serious people I know through business, national politics, community events, family members and through work. They also reflect other quirky things that make me happy like pies, trainers and winding up Alastair Campbell.

I can't separate all of that. But I can edit it. I am who I am. I don't blurt out everything about my life, but all that I'm happy to tell someone I meet at the Tripe Dressers Ball is all there in social networks. And just as I don't write about work on here that much, so too you won't find articles about trainers in Insider. That said, I'm doing a site visit to Umbro soon...

1 comment:

Steve Bennett said...

Michael, good on you!

I think it's essential that we are consistent and true to who we are in total. Anyway, I'm not sure if I have time to divide myself into different bits and manage them separately - I would just get too confused!

Cheers, Steve