Professionals on social media - does it effect your opinion?

Girlracer

Girlracer

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Someone who I follow on Twitter and had planned to contact for a one off lesson in the summer, and have a huge amount of respect for recently posted some things which I would consider er.... un-professional. As a result I was totally put off contacting them (stupid really, and I'm not too sure why).

Another person recently was posting complaining about the owners of a horse she rode, due to ill fitting tack (some of you may know who I'm referring too). All I can say is I seriously hope the animals owners aren't on Twitter, I would be furious if I asked a pro to ride my horse and was subsequently slagged off on social media.

So how does it effect your opinion?

I'm not hugely effected by posts such as having a drink, nights out or similar, although when 'following' a pro you don't want to hear about it too often. However some things are really in-appropriate IMO (sexual innuendo's, excessive swearing, slagging off clients to name a few...).

Why do the 'pro's' not recognise that a few of their followers could be potential clients, or are even currently clients. We are all human, and actually it is nice to see the human side of the pro's and people we idolise, however there is a line that many seem to step over. There are a few I would no longer contact.

Your opinions?
 
I'd think sexual innuendos are harmless and that if someone has twitter they should be of an age where it wouldn't be upsetting. Isn't twitter 16+?
I would however be put off by a pro slagging people off. That's just nasty.
 
It would put me off anyone in a business/professional sense if their apparently professional account was doing it, whether a rider or company. I think personal stuff should kept amongst friends ie on facebook under the tightest of settings, or not said at all.

I lost total respect for a well known good historian in my field when they publicly slagged off a PhD student & their work on Twitter...
 
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I agree totally. These people set themselves up as leading exponents of their chosen discipline and charge for their services accordingly. Fair enough. But they must remember that professionalism goes beyond the hour or so they are teaching, or schooling a client's horse. Internet based social media - Facebook, Twitter and the like - are not private places. They are public domains where your every word is out there for all to see. These people need to keep their private thoughts private if they want to keep both their clients and their hard earned reputations. They may think their clients are idiots with useless horses but it's those "idiots" who pay the bills at the end of the day.
 
This is why I like prof's who have two pages... One for their work and one for their private life! I like to know what you are getting up to and what you are riding...but not anything else!
 
i was thinking only the other day, on a slightly different vein, that professionals/companies who join here and post aren’t doing themselves any favours. Even if everything written is positive, if the company/product is good enough then reviews will speak for themselves and I find it off putting to see them posting on a forum, Im not sure why. I do think them having FB or twitter pages is different though as long as they remain professional and use it as a marketing and communication tool.
 
Of course it colours your opinion! I always think carefully about what I post as well aware customers and employers now search on the Internet for background information.
 
I think that's the beauty of social media. It's let us into aspects of celebrity/professional sportspeople's life that we wouldn't normally see. From this we are able to to form an opinion of someone which is much 'truer'

I liken my Twitter follow list to a group of friends/acquaintances. There are some who are on the same wavelength as me, some who I don't really 'get' but are interesting & there are some who I discover I have nothing in common with & are of no interest to me & I unfollow them.

Just the same as selecting a group of friends there are some things I find unacceptable on twitter : constant bragging, constant moaning, racism, homophobia, bitching...
I also tend not to be interested in bland twitter which obvious just some PR machine churning out tweets (Oliver Townend is guilty of this)
However some swearing, sexual innuendo & evidence of partying/drinking I find quite amusing.

There are a couple of event riders who's tweeting set my teeth on edge but like you I just wouldn't contact them for lessons etc
But then I wouldn't contact them if I saw an article in a magazine that put them in a different light, or saw them do something with a horse I didn't like.
 
A lot of people on Twitter, facebook etc but far too much details and information we just don't want to hear.
Professional horse people are still human and get up to normal things.

But in that case I think they should have separate profiles.
One for the public, clients present and potential.
Then a normal one just for friends who they can tell their drunken antics too etc!
 
I wouldn't judge a professional for occasional "personal" tweeting - drunkeness / jokes / general human behaviour. In fact, I find it quite endearing.

I would judge them for something unacceptable (racism/homophobia/etc) or for slating a client though. Bad form.
 
I completely agree and in our small way operate two FB accounts for that reason.

It is very easy to misconstrue the written word even when trying to be appropriate to the medium so all out inappropriateness would definitely make me form a negative opinion.
 
JustFinding TheDecorations said:
I wouldn't judge a professional for occasional "personal" tweeting - drunkeness / jokes / general human behaviour. In fact, I find it quite endearing.

I would judge them for something unacceptable (racism/homophobia/etc) or for slating a client though. Bad form.
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This, if people are too careful then their communications can be very bland. On the other hand, if someone openly slates a client then I would be reluctant to become their client.
 
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