Comments on: An open letter to CEOs: Why so Twitter averse?

By: johncabell

johncabell — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 01:11:26 +0000

I’m a little amused at the comments which are so snarkily dismissive of Twitter. At this point that sort of POV seems very much of the “Grandpa just doesn’t get it and never will” variety.

Social networks (and even the comment section of a story) aren’t for everybody. No sense objecting to something which doesn’t affect you (you may think) if you personally don’t want anything to do with it.

But I do understand the comments which suggest CEOs are gun shy, because of liabilities and the general considersations associated with being a material person of a public company.

My suggestion is that they shouldn’t be nearly as much. CEOs are very disciplined (they ones who are). They have nothing to fear and, I believe, a lot to gain by getting their feet wet.

By: HRM001

HRM001 — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 13:52:40 +0000

There may be various other reasons that spring to mind:

- Concerns about personal security – those who might be considered targets don’t want to publicize their travel plans or movements

- Confidentiality – the risk of inadvertently tipping off a competitor about a meeting or a professional connection

- Being misquoted – you don’t have much space to explain yourself fully and there may be concerns over tweets, particularly responses to customers’ tweets, being taken out of context

- Privacy – not all CEOs bask in the limelight, many prefer to work behind the scenes and don’t want to be seen as a ‘real person’

- Accessibility – you have no control over who follows you and what they tweet about using your twitter name. Once someone’s tweet is out there it is searchable and it’s not so easy to ignore (or the ‘why don’t you reply to my tweet?’ messages)

Finally, and most likely, they’re just too busy and don’t get it!

By: lezah2

lezah2 — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 12:44:03 +0000

Anyone who has time or the desire to tweet is a very unsophisticated, lonely person. This is a phase that is being pushed endlessly by the media, another one of their ways of taking advantage of the unsuspecting (still) public but it will be short lived and they will have to come up with something else to make people feel that they “belong.”

By: Eric.Klein

Eric.Klein — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 07:21:54 +0000

That little SEC minefield is not to be taken lightly. Stock prices can go up or down on little things like the mood or health of the CEO (look at Apple in the Jobs was sick era) or can lead to charges of manipulation or insider trading.

But most importantly not everyone wants their daily routine and thoughts going out to who knows how many stockholders, journalist (who need to feed their own beasts) and lawyers waiting to catch you up?

By: Pranix

Pranix — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 07:18:16 +0000

I did not see one reason why a CEO should on Twitter, except for “others do it too” and Welch’s gospels. I read this article to see some real reasons and potential benefits; unfortunately, I found none.

By: mynamehear2

mynamehear2 — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 04:56:27 +0000

“Why don’t CEOs tweet?”

Because they are usually reasonably intelligent enough to understand loose lips sink ships.

By: mlknows

mlknows — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 03:59:35 +0000

Hi
CEO’s don’t want to twitter because most of them think they are above the masses.
They don’t want to hear how lousy their service is or how lousy their products are and how they are a bunch of money meglomainics that don’t appear to really have any concern for the middle class in America.
Sad that they prefer to take these positions. Perhaps they would end up really in touch with the rest of us instead of they exclusive peer group.
Happy Holidays.

By: Tom_in_PA_USA

Tom_in_PA_USA — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 00:01:36 +0000

The problem is that most tweets were made because someone felt the need to post something that day.

Our CEO doesn’t Twitter, but the VP of our division does. And yea, the term “twit” usually comes to mind.

By: Bitwise

Bitwise — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 23:41:07 +0000

How about because Twitter is lame and useless? Unless you’re a lonely 13 year old in the midwest, of course.

By: system_owner

system_owner — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 22:19:14 +0000

“You’ll shoot your eye out” to quote A Christmas Story, but true non the less. CEOs don’t use Twitter for two reasons. First, it is an informal communication channel in which “tweets” can become actionable statements. Secondly, what a CEO says can impact their company’s stock price and the public perception of the company. No legal counsel is ever going to recommend that the head of a company start sharing information with the world on an impromptu basis.

As fascinating as it is for some to hear about Ashton Kutcher’s latest issue, no one wants to read that the CEO of some company has a nightmare about their 10K filing.

Let’s leave “twitter” to the twits and business to the CEOs.