They should be scouring that thing like a mad man ensuring that their vision is being embraced throughout the ranks, and just letting employers know that they’re willing to come out of their massive office and give a damn.

Good stuff.

That’s a really great observation and I think you’re right. While a lot of us in this ‘social media sandbox’ are going to either a.) ooh and ahh that they’re on Twitter or b.) jump to conclusions and insist they’re doing it wrong after on Tweet,post, etc. the average person is probably just going to be somewhere in between. And because they’re a business owner/CEO the assumption probably is that they’re already “guilty.”

I wish people tweeted about meeting me at parties. I think I’m kind of a big deal

I understand that they have a stressful role of trying to ensure their employees have a company to work for and ensuring the company remains competitive, but a company’s biggest asset is its employees. To me, an organization’s staff is its biggest audience – one the company NEEDS to social with.
.-= Kasey Skala´s last blog ..Hyper-sexualizing isn’t attractive. Sorry. =-.

The risk of being misunderstood by regulators and media; the risk of sounding quite a bore [esp to employees] because there are so many things ‘at office’ you cant really share with everyone; and they don’t want to talk about people met/ parties they at the risk of sounding like a brag.

Politicians / artists/ musicians/ authors can get away with a mistake.

If you’re a business owner/ CEO, you are now assumed ‘guilty’ by default however big or small or even non-existent the infarction may be!

So for many, it isn’t worth the risk?

And MOST social media tasks should be outsourced to people lower down the food chain. As I mentioned before and Carlos pointed out, you don’t have to be the CEO to have a good grasp of the company and the messaging you should be spreading.

In addition, I think while most people might be infatuated by the CEO participating at first, the likelihood of him responding to your individual messages is probably slim to none. Someone else in the organization might be able to carry on a genuine conversation with you. Whether this is true or not I think one could compare it to a lot of men being scared to talk to the “10″ because she might be ‘stuck-up.’ It’s easier to talk to the 7′s, they’re more approachable. At least that’s the mindset for a lot of people.

Side Note: Obviously if you’re me, and you make popsicle sticks with your head on it, the 10′s approach you.

[:::Deep Breath:::]

And finally, I’m with you on the largely personal tweets. They’re cool mixed in, but if that’s all you got, you better me one intriguing mofo.

This is the most important point to take away. People put way too much emphasis on social media as a guaranteed solution, rather than a tool.As if whether or not a CEO is ON twitter is more important than how he is actually using it to achieve a goal

It’s true, as more and more people turn to the web, brands face the challenge of attracting and engaging their customers. Social media is proving itself as an effective way to do that, but not the only way.

When a CEO doesn’t understand the importance of making customers happy, that’s when you have something to worry about.