对推特心存忌惮的CEO们

When General Electric Co. Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt tweeted for the first time this month, his 'Hello Twitter' was greeted with some snarky replies, including this one: '@JeffImmelt how come my grandfather got on twitter before you?'

上个月，当通用电气公司(General Electric Co.)首席执行长杰夫?伊梅尔特(Jeffrey Immelt)第一次在推特(Twitter)上发布消息时，他的“推特你好的帖子收到了一些言辞犀利的回复，比如这条：@JeffImmelt，怎么连我的祖父都比你先用推特呢？

While arguably late to the game, Mr. Immelt's debut on the microblogging site makes him a rarity among chief executives, who have generally steered clear of social media even as their companies have embraced it to commune with customers and pursue new business.

虽说开通得是有些晚，但伊梅尔特在这家微博客网站上的登台亮相，在首席执行长这个圈子里还是很稀罕的。一般说来，各公司的首席执行长们还是对社交媒体敬而远之──即便他们的公司已在使用社交媒体与客户交流并寻找新的业务机会。

Chief executives are under pressure these days to appear accessible and 'authentic,' but social media -- with its demands for quick, unscripted updates that can quickly go viral -- poses risks for top managers and the companies they represent, in the form of lawsuits, leaked trade secrets or angered customers.

当前，首席执行长们正备受压力，需要表现得易于接近并显得“真实，但社交媒体需要的是快速发出的、未经雕琢的更新信息──而这些信息会像病毒传播一样迅速蔓延──这就让公司最高管理者以及他们所代表的公司承担着各种风险，例如诉讼、商业秘密泄露，以及惹恼消费者。

Many corporate leaders say they are too busy running a company to spend time posting 140-character messages to Twitter, or retweeting posts from followers. What's more, for some companies, the business case for using the site can seem unclear, with no direct correlation between Twitter followers and sales.

很多企业领袖表示，运营一家公司已经够忙的了，他们可没有时间再去推特发140字的消息或是转发关注者的帖子。此外，对一些公司来说，由于推特账户上的关注者与公司的销售业绩之间并没有什么直接的关系，使用推特服务在商务方面的影响看上去并不明朗。

At least one leadership expert thinks those arguments are shortsighted. Most CEOs should accept that social media is part of their job description, says former Medtronic Inc. CEO Bill George, a management professor at Harvard Business School and avid tweeter. 'People want CEOs who are real. They want to know what you think,' he says, adding: 'Can you think of a more cost-effective way of getting to your customers and employees?'

至少有一位领导力专家认为，这些论断都显得目光短浅。美敦力公司(Medtronic Inc.)前任首席执行长、哈佛商学院(Harvard Business School)管理学教授、同时也是一位推特控的比尔?乔治(Bill George)说，绝大多数首席执行长应当将社交媒体视为他们日常工作职责的一部分。他说，人们需要了解真实的首席执行长，他们需要知道你在想些什么。你还能找出一种成本效益比这更高的方式来接触你的客户和员工吗？

Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc. is pushing CEO Randy Papadellis to start tweeting. But when Mr. Papadellis said in a recent interview that one of his first tweets would mention drinking cranberry juice before eating sushi to prevent food poisoning, his director of communications, Cindy Taccini, quickly nixed the plan, noting the claim hadn't been clinically proven.

优鲜沛蔓越莓公司(Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc.)正推动其首席执行长兰迪?帕帕得利斯(Randy Papadellis)使用推特。在最近的一次采访中，帕帕得利斯表示，他最早的推文中本来有一条是提出人们应当在食用寿司前饮用蔓越莓果汁以防食物中毒，但他的传媒总监辛迪?塔西妮(Cindy Taccini)很快叫停了他的这个计划，理由是这一说法尚未得到临床证实。

Seven in 10 Fortune 500 CEOs have no presence on major social media networks such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Google+, according to a recent report by CEO.com and analytics company Domo.

来自CEO.com和Domo分析公司一份最近的研究报告显示，《财富》世界500强(Fortune 500)公司的首席执行长中，有十分之七从未在推特、Facebook、LinkedIn、Pinterest和Google+这些社交媒体网络上露过面。

Among those who do, 4% have known Twitter accounts and 8% use Facebook under their own names, according to the study, which was conducted in May. By contrast, 34% of all Americans are on Twitter and 50% use Facebook.

根据这份5月份所作的调研，在使用社交媒体的首席执行长中，有4%使用实名推特账户，8%使用实名Facebook账户。形成对比的是，在所有美国人中，有34%使用推特，50%使用Facebook。

Corporate leaders such as Yahoo Inc.'s Marissa Mayer and Medtronic's Omar Ishrak appear to have struck a balance on their Twitter accounts between personal and professional.

包括雅虎公司(Yahoo Inc.)的玛丽莎?梅耶尔(Marissa Mayer)和美敦力公司的奥马尔?伊什莱克(Omar Ishrak)在内的一些企业领袖，似乎在他们的推特账户上找到了个人生活与职场生涯之间的平衡。

When she was tapped to head the struggling Internet company, Ms. Mayer, who is pregnant with her first child, rallied her troops and investors by posting photos of Yahoo-themed baby clothes on Facebook Inc.'s Instagram photo-sharing site. More recently, on Twitter, she has talked up the company's cafe.

当梅耶尔被选中领导这家苦苦挣扎的互联网公司时，她正怀有自己的第一个孩子。那时，她在Facebook旗下的Instagram图片分享网站贴出了带有雅虎主题的婴儿装照片，并以此激励自己的团队和投资者。最近，她又在推特上对公司的咖啡馆大加赞赏。

But cautionary tales abound. In May, fashion retailer Francesca's Holdings Corp. fired its chief financial officer, Gene Morphis, after he took to Facebook and Twitter with posts about earnings calls, snide remarks about short sellers and self-congratulatory comments after the company completed a secondary share offering. Mr. Morphis continues to tweet as @theoldcfo. On Monday, he tweeted about meeting with venture capitalists.

当然，需要引以为戒的例子也有不少。今年5月，时装零售商Francesca's Holdings Corp.解雇了公司的首席财务长吉恩?莫尔菲斯(Gene Morphis)，原因是他在推特和Facebook上发布了有关公司营收电话会议的信息，并对卖空者冷嘲热讽，还在公司完成二级市场股票发售后发表了一些沾沾自喜的评论。此后，莫尔菲斯仍在用名为@theoldcfo的账户发推文。9月24日，他发布了与风投资本家会面的相关消息。

Mr. Morphis couldn't be reached for comment.

无法联系到莫尔菲斯对此置评。

Aetna Inc. CEO Mark Bertolini started his account three years ago -- though his daughter, a former social-media director, tried to dissuade him. He has used the platform to share personal news, such as his son's kidney transplant in June.

安泰保险公司(Aetna Inc.)首席执行长马克?贝托里尼(Mark Bertolini)于三年前开通推特账户，开始使用这一网络平台分享个人资讯──比如他儿子在今年6月进行的肾移植手术。在他开通推特前，他的女儿曾试图劝阻他。他女儿曾是一位社交媒体总监。

Though Mr. Bertolini started tweeting to communicate with friends, he became a lightning rod for critics of the big insurer, one of whom tweeted that they wished he would die of a stroke, or that his family would perish in a car crash. But he also has used the platform to show a different side of the insurer.

尽管贝托里尼使用推特是为了与朋友交流，但他还是成为这家保险业大鳄的批评者的众矢之的。一位批评者甚至在推特上说，希望贝托里尼死于中风，或者他一家死于车祸。不过，贝托里尼也使用推特展现了这家保险公司的另一面。

Last summer, when a colon-cancer patient tweeted about hitting the cost ceiling on his Aetna health plan, hundreds of Twitter users directed angry posts at Mr. Bertolini, who then reached out to the patient, also via Twitter. The result: Aetna agreed to cover the man's medical bills through the end of his latest plan year.

今年夏天，一位结肠癌病人在推特上发布相关消息，称其医疗开销已触及他的安泰医疗保险计划的上限，这引起数百名推特用户将愤怒的矛头直指贝托里尼。随后，贝托里尼同样通过推特找到了这位患者。最终的结果是，安泰同意继续为其医疗开销买单，直至最近的保险年度到期。

'I don't want to be a press release,' says Mr. Bertolini, who has about 3,000 followers. 'You have to take some chances. You have to put yourself out there.'

拥有约3,000名关注者的贝托里尼说，我不想成为一个发布资讯的机器。你必须抓住一些机会，你必须让自己身处其中。

Fortune 500 CEOs who do have Twitter accounts have an average of 33,250 followers, according to the study by CEO.com and Domo. A business celebrity such as former GE chief Jack Welch has 1.3 million followers.

根据CEO.com和Domo的研究，《财富》世界500强公司中，注册有推特账户的首席执行长平均拥有33,250位关注者。而商界名人、通用电气的前任首席执行长杰克?韦尔奇(Jack Welch)则拥有130万关注者。

News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch, who started tweeting in January, has amassed more than 326,000 followers. The media mogul has tweeted his opinions on issues such as gun control, public education and the euro crisis. News Corp. owns The Wall Street Journal.

资讯集团(News Corp.)首席执行长鲁珀特?默多克(Rupert Murdoch)今年1月开始使用推特，至今已有32.6万人关注了他。这位媒体大亨已通过推特就枪支管制、公共教育和欧元危机等问题发表了他的观点。资讯集团是《华尔街日报》的母公司。

Not all CEOs are as outspoken. Michael Dubyak, CEO of Wright Express Corp., which provides fuel charge cards to government agencies and corporations, says he considered tweeting but concluded there were simply too many pitfalls. Close friends and family can find him on Facebook, where Mr. Dubyak has an account, though it isn't listed under his full name.

并非所有首席执行长都这样坦率直言。Wright Express Corp.首席执行长迈克尔?杜布亚克(Michael Dubyak)说，他曾考虑使用推特，但认为这类服务的风险太多。Wright Express Corp.是一家为政府机构和企业提供加油卡的公司。杜布亚克的亲朋好友和家人可以在Facebook上找到他，他在那里开通了一个账户，但并没有使用自己的全名。

Many executives who tweet get a helping hand, either in the form of edits from their public-relations staff or ghostwritten posts. GE's Mr. Immelt, for instance, has a team that works to 'execute his vision' on Twitter, helping him draft tweets, according to company spokeswoman. The tweets are the result of a 'discussion' between Mr. Immelt and Deirdre Latour, GE's senior director of communications, but 'it's his tone and vision,' she says. GE's legal team doesn't review the posts before they are published.

很多首席执行长推特信息的发布都有人协助完成，要么是经过公司公关专员的编辑，要么就是有专人代写。比如，通用电气一位发言人表示，该公司首席执行长伊梅尔特拥有一个团队，专门在推特上“执行表述他的观点，帮助他起草推特内容。这些内容是伊梅尔特与公司高级传媒总监迪德尔?拉图尔(Deirdre Latour)一同“讨论后的成果，但拉图尔说，“这些是他(伊梅尔特)的语气和观点。在发布之前，公司的法律团队并不审阅这些内容。

CEOs who do mind their own accounts have to steer clear of bashing competitors, disparaging customers or opining on polarizing topics like religion and politics. When she trains executives on social media, Amy Jo Martin, CEO of social-media agency Digital Royalty Inc., says clients are 'fearful of sharing too much versus not sharing enough.' She advises executives to give followers a glimpse, not a guided tour, of their lives.

那些真正在意自己账户的首席执行长必须把握自己不去抨击竞争对手或是贬损消费者，并要同时注意避免就诸如宗教和政治等两极分化的议题发表观点。社交媒体代理机构Digital Royalty Inc.首席执行长艾米?乔?马丁(Amy Jo Martin)说，当她对首席执行长们进行社交媒体培训时，她的客户“既怕分享得太多，又怕分享得不够。她建议他们可以在社交媒体上展现自己生活的一角，而不要像个导游一样带着人们四处参观。

Some executives are already over it. Zappos Inc. CEO Tony Hsieh, an early adopter, hasn't posted to his Twitter account since June.

一些首席执行长做得更绝。很早就用推特的Zappos Inc.首席执行长谢家华(Tony Hsieh)自今年6月起就不在推特上发消息了。

In an email, he said the network is good for making announcements, but has lost its intimate, chatty feel. He has moved on to sharing photos on Instagram instead.

他在一封邮件中说道，推特适用于发布公告，但已经失去了那种私密、闲聊的感觉。如今他已改换门庭，去Instagram分享照片了。