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You're one of a small number of people I follow on Twitter who I don't know personally, and I do so for the simple reason that it gives me a good indication of what the Beeb thinks is currently noteworthy in technology. What I find strange is the odd combination of the personal and the professional...and feeling like a voyeur into short personal (but not private) conversations between yourself and people I do know a bit. Professionally speaking it is very useful. Personally speaking, it's all a bit weird, isn't it! I try to keep my online interactions separate between personal and professional, but it is getting increasingly more difficult...and I'm not on t' radio like you are.

I think the main issue here is the separation of work and personal. I've just checked out your Twitter timeline and it you appears to be a personal one. When you Tweet over there, you are tweeting as yourself and not in a professional capacity.

I have a personal twitter account (hey, check me out @rosscbrown) and one for work - everyone knows that I鈥檓 just a jerk on my personal account whereas I'm professional (well...) over on the work account.

I guess you just have to remind people that when you are posting on Twitter it is personal and not connected to your day job.

At work we have to add a disclaimer to our blogs stating that it is personal and not connected to work - maybe twitter needs a profile field for such a notice...

I think the problem (if there is one) may lie in the perception of other users of the internet, rather than in the niceties of personal/public information sharing. It all depends a lot on whether we allow respected, professional individuals to be human people with foibles and fickle moments as well. I don't see why we can't, but it's at the root of anyone's annoyance with your twitter updates, I'd guess.

Personally, I don't have any problem with graded professionalism for different arenas, and indeed think it is pretty much necessary for the sanity of creative people - to be able to put whimsical, occasionally nonsensical thoughts out into the ether is a wonderful boon of the internet and I would hate to have it denied me by a need to maintain an image. Multiple usernames is obviously a way round it, but it annoys me that such a thing is necessary.

Personally - having very few Twittering friends - I use Twitter for exactly this reason, to follow public people who are important to me (tv writers, minor actors, the Magazine since it bullied me into it) and get a feel for who these people really are when their coffee's gone cold and the cat's just been sick in the corner. I am glad there are some relatively well-known people out there willing to take the unfriendly feedback and snarky comments they undoubtedly get for doing so - it makes you real people for me, and I value it.

I take your point Rory, but you yourself wrote recently in another blog post that "I decided that I really couldn't be bothered to write about the new iPhone".

It does seem to be a key determinant in what you do, or don't write about!

Oh no, don't protect your updates, Rory!

Whilst I've considered it myself after encountering some less-than-complimentary people on Twitter, I think it's against the ethos of the site itself. And anyone who takes someone's hastily-written word on Twitter as law obviously doesn't know how to use the service properly.

As rosscbrown mentions, perhaps you need to add a little disclaimer in your Twitter description?

Twitter/text/blog/comment in haste, repent at leisure.
In cyberspace words are like radioactivity, they stay around for a long time. And as you may have noticed not everyone is friendly (or even in the same reality).
I don鈥檛 see anything as being `private` on the web, just potential hostages to fortune.

I got a message from Facebook saying "we have detected suspicious activity on your account" ...

Well, I've had some of those, and I don't even HAVE a Facebook account.

I expect the fact that the email headers said "Language: Russian" was a complete coincidence. It's good to know that the nice people at Facebook are outsourcing work other countries to promote global economic development ;-)

I really fail to see why sad people feel the need to access 'social networking' sites. If you can't make friends in the real world I suggest you get therapy!! I am proud to say I have not signed up to Beebo, Facebook, or any other alternative pseudo club. Anonymous blogging occasionally is good enough and keeps my identity and personal details out of the public domain. If you really feel the need to be loved by complete strangers, I understand that there are people out there who will provide such services for a small fee.

Nowadays getting into a social networking site is inevitable. Social networking is now used to even find potential employees using sites like linkedin and even check up on people and their friends in facebook before hiring.
So in such a situation it is quite wise to not to make off the cuff remarks. Saying something online is almost equivalent to saying something on a national network tv.

re: ptcbus

"Nowadays getting into a social networking site in inevitable"

No it's not. Those friends I have met online have tried for years to get me on to these things and I've always said no (I value my privacy too much).

Oddly enough, in recent weeks, every single person who has been trying to get me online has started to comment that they're sick and tired of Facebook/Bebo/Myspace et al and are just sticking to good old Instant Messaging from now on.

Like I said then, flash in the pan technology.

I really fail to see why sad people feel the need to access 'social networking' sites. If you can't make friends in the real world I suggest you get therapy!!

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I, like most people I suspect, use it to keep up with friends from the real world who are now spread far and wide around the world. Sharing photos and nes is much moer simple on facebook than having to send out masses of emails every time. It's also handy to keep up to date with the latest news of products, bands, developers etc. that you have an interest in.

Those who think that social networking sights are for lonely people to make friends are rather missing the point. People like that go to chat sites instead.

It's all about the seperation of Work and Personal, the problem with Twitter it's very much public, however I agree with yourself Rory people should realise tweets are often an off the cuff remark. I find your tweets rather amusing, along with billt's. You said the other day you were advised to put up a disclaimer, people should realise that given you don't directly affiliate your tweet's with the beeb it is personal. However twitter is bloody addictive though!