There are no divided plates in social media

Social media is an all or nothing proposition. No… I am not suggesting that you air all your dirty laundry, that you passive aggressively comment on a specific person's behavior on your Facebook updates or that we should all know how your marriage is going based on your tweets.

That's a discussion of discretion and propriety, which we'll hold for another day.

I was talking about how some people are clinging to the idea that they can embark into the world of social media and somehow maintain very distinct and separate personal and professional lives. You know…"I use Facebook just for my friends and LinkedIn for business contacts."

Life isn't that clear cut. And let's take it out of the social media realm for a minute. Do you know if your favorite client has children? Do they know if you like coffee? Ever share vacation photos or a book you love with a business associate?

Of course you have. We are human beings. And if you're doing business exceedingly well — odds are your customers are also your friends.

So what in the world makes us think we can or should keep those two interwoven worlds separate in social media? Does the fact that I posted photos of my daughter's play negate my ability to help clients with their marketing? If I tweet on occasion with an old college buddy, does that erase the tweets with insightful social media links and commentary?

That's not to say you shouldn't have a strategy for how you want to handle your social media exposure. You have a reason — often a business reason — for being there. And you shouldn't lose sight of that. But just don't create artificial barriers to the point of the extreme.

As Amber Naslund said at the recent SOBCon conference — "sooner or later the mash potatoes are going to touch the peas."

There are no divided plates in social media. So you might as well figure out how to blend your worlds. I hate to break it to you… but they're already blended.

What do you think?