People sometimes do odd things in social media. One of these things is making their Twitter accounts private. If the point of social media is to be social, why hide your account? Here are the reasons I’ve come across that people choose to keep their Twitter accounts private:

Personal Accounts - this is one of the more popular uses of taking an account private. If you are spending all day managing a large brand with thousands of followers, perhaps you just want an accounts you can use between friends. It’s easier and more quiet that way.

Privacy - some people are crazy out in them there Internets, so if you are a public figure or have stalkers, I can totally understand why you wouldn’t want your stalker to know where you are every moment of the day.

Inactive / Inexperienced Accounts - if you aren’t a power user or are just starting out on Twitter, maybe it’s too cumbersome for you to go through all the spammy followers. Keeping private should weed some of that out for you.

Reputation Management - believe it or not, everyone isn’t using Twitter. Some people only grab a profile to protect their reputation, so it makes sense to keep the account private in this case.

So Why Go Public?

Ok, so maybe you are now ready to come out of your shell and be a social media expert like the rest of us
You’ll be easier to follow, and will appear in Twitter search as well as the public timeline.

Jump on in, the kool aid’s fine!

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Guest Post by Brian Wallace. Follow Brian on Twitter!

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