Like many people who work in my field of employment, there's always a dilemma on what types of content to share on our personal social channels. Do we share professional, industry related articles that help prove that we're connected and up-to-date? Or do we share personal stuff, the life-streamy types of things? I've known a few people to actually set up multiple profiles - one for their personal lives and a separate set of social accounts to share more "business" related tweets. Is it really worth the time? My answer is simple.

No.

Reading an article from AdAge this week re-affirmed that. The author spoke about how nobody wanted polish (that's paw-lish, not poe-lish like how I first read the title) but worn, rough and real.Being "all business" is honestly quite boring. Always tweeting out TechCrunch and Business Insider articles with no other layers of personality doesn't really attract people. This quote from Martin Lindstrom says it best:

"We're sick and tired of picture-perfect babies and flawless models. Why do we love YouTube videos so much? Because they're imperfect, amateurish, and the people in them remind us of us."

Look at which YouTube video channels do the best. Not the ones with the most polished video editing or production but the ones that look the most authentic - the ones that we relate to the best. In regards to politicians, George W Bush was definitely far less polished publicly than John Kerry when they were running against each other for president. However, I feel like a large part of the reason he won was because of that lack of polish. He seemed more like a real person than a robot, more of an average Joe.

It's good to show professionalism and industry thought leadership...especially if your industry is something you are also personally passionate about. But having a blend of personal items and letting your hair down online is also key. People don't want to follow robots, they want to follow people.

What do you think? Where do you find balance?