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Social Media Marketing - Is There a Line Between Professional and Personal?

By , About.com Guide

Is there not a line between personal and professional? I realize that social media means transparency, but is it not our job to still keep a level of professionalism?

I've looked at many of the high profile bloggers and while they interject humor, personal experience and day-to-day discoveries they also manage to keep a level of professionalism, not only in their posts, but in their comments as well.

We can all have rants, disagreements and humor, but when are we crossing the line? When does what we blog about have an impact on our brands as well as potential clientele? I have my own opinion but would love to hear yours?

Balance can be difficult when it comes to transparency and really must we share everything to get our point across?

The biggest fear of companies when it comes to social media and the blogosphere is putting their brand not only in the hands of the consumer, but also in the hands of their employees and seeing that often the line of professional and personal blends I can see why.

What are your thoughts? Should there be guidelines and if so how should they be defined so that they protect the brand represented without losing personality?

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