Twitter: Twitter and Facebook Advice from Forbes

March 13, 2009

I emitted a surprised “Honk honk” when I read “Yes, CEOs Should Facebook and Twitter”. The article appeared on March 11, 2009, here and was written by Matthew Fraser and Soumitra Dutta. My hunch is that both “grok” the “wickedness” of Tweeting. Both also Twinkle their thumbs out. The core idea in the article was that social networking can be a positive. To me the most interesting segment of the Forbes’s article was:

A CEO can use Web 2.0 tools not only to communicate and learn, but also to instigate action and become a more effective leader. Tools like blogs and podcasts put a top executive in more direct contact with employees, cutting through multiple layers of middle managers, who can be motivated by their own agendas to frustrate direct communication…. to boost morale, foster creativity and enhance the values of open collaboration. CEOs can use Web 2.0 tools to make themselves known as intellectual leaders…

Social software in the Web 2.0 garb is one heck of an invention was how I read this series of assertions. I think these tools are important and will be used in imaginative and useful ways. I would go so far as to assert that organizations will find these social systems and methods in organizations because younger and young at heart employees and contractors will use these the way my father uses the phone.

The notion of “should” and the implicit categorical affirmative, however, are troublesome to me. Certain work environments prohibit the use of * any * electronic device in certain situations or facilities. Some CEOs may not have clearances to get more than cursory briefings on the doings of some parts of their organizations. Speculation–idle or uninformed–can have significant consequences. Regulatory nets may float above the unsuspecting CEO and drop into place when the subpoena is served or some other dependent action takes place weeks or months from the moment the Facebook posting went live.

Cheeerleading is the province of the young and agile. The addled goose is neither young nor is he agile. Some CEOs may be similarly burdened.

Stephen Arnold, March 13, 2009

Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under Business strategy, News, Search, Social, Technology

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.