Milwaukee CEOs not alone in shunning Twitter

Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. chairman Warren Buffett is on Twitter ... or is he?

When I first started researching an article about chief executives on Twitter, I thought the lack of Milwaukee-area CEOs on the social media platform said something about the corporate culture here.

Turns out Milwaukee execs aren?t alone in largely shunning the Twitterverse. It?s a topic I explore in today?s front-page article of The Business Journal?s weekly print edition.

Just 28 of the Fortune 500 CEOs have Twitter accounts, and only 19 actively tweet, according to this year?s ?Social CEO Report? from CEO.com and Domo. That means only 4 percent of Fortune 500 leaders frequently use Twitter.

Those stats are up slightly from last year, but are still pitiful in comparison to LinkedIn, for example, which claims 140 Fortune 500 CEOs as members, the report said.

Of the largest Milwaukee-area companies, the only top execs I could find on Twitter were ManpowerGroup?s Jeff Joerres, Badger Meter Inc.?s Rich Meeusen, Johnson Controls Inc.?s CEO-to-be Alex Molinaroli and Fiserv Inc.?s Jeff Yabuki.

So why aren?t more CEOs on Twitter?

Local executives and social media experts cited the time commitment it would take for busy CEOs to craft an interactive and sought-after account, as well as the generational issue. Many CEOs are older folks, and they?re not all as hip as Warren Buffett, who announced his Twitter entrance May 2 with the tweet ?Warren is in the house.? (He?s since tweeted just twice, but has racked up more than 500,000 followers.)

It?s that potential for a virtual megaphone to thousands of stakeholders that should make it worth it for CEOs, 7Summits founder and CEO Paul Stillmank told me. His Milwaukee-based company?s services include social media consulting for large companies.

Jeff Engel is The Business Journal's reporter covering the manufacturing industry and technology.

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/blog/2013/08/milwaukee-ceos-not-alone-in-shunning.html

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