"Posting on the Web is the modern PR, and the CEO’s job is to articulate the company’s vision and direction, which requires more than 140 characters. Being perceived as a wise guy or a shallow thinker is not going to do your stock price much good. We have just completed a usability study of investor relations info on corporate Web sites, and one of the big reasons individual investors turn to companies’ Web sites is to find the CEO’s vision and take on the company’s and industry’s direction. Because users don’t want to read very much online, this information should be addressed concisely, but not as concisely as in a tweet. Better to write something deeper (or post a video clip, since investors also want to assess the CEO’s personality by watching him or her speak), and then announce that, with a link, from the company’s general Twitter update, as opposed to in the CEO’s personal tweet."

Do you think it’s a good idea for CEOs to tweet to their customers? “Jakob Nielsen Critiques Twitter,” BusinessWeek

8 Jun 2009 / Notes