There seems to be a growing debate about which social media tools are more personal than others and which are better for business. Well, in my experience, all social media is personal. I'm a LinkedIn power user who also lives in Twitterville (a bow to my good friend Shel Israel's book). I use both social media sites for business - promoting the company I work for - iContact - and my speeches and books ventures. I also keep in touch with good friends and colleagues on both sites. Sentiment is divided amongst social media "pundits" and old-school marketers on which site is better for what - is Twitter more a personal site to be used to stay in touch with friends? Is LinkedIn more a business site to build relationships and promote your company/brand? The answer in my estimation is both. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESS I have long maintained that social media is a tool in the marketing toolkit. While it's definitely at the forefront of marketing and communications these days, social media can not stand on its own without a solid marketing plan as a foundation. Without a plan, participating in social media for business will not bring the results you've been promised by those who claim to be able to "get you on Twitter and increase your brand equity!" Yikes! Any business worth its salt knows that they are successful because of their customers and how well they connect with their needs, and in turn how well they fill those needs. Social media is a way to connect with your customers, find out what their needs are, and work to fill them. But it's just one of the ways to do so. IT'S ALL PERSONAL The one differentiating factor of social media is the personal touch. On Twitter, Facebook and even LinkedIn it's a two way conversation (if you're doing it right). You INTERACT with your customers and connect with them in a much more personal way than say direct mail or online banner ads. Take for example the recent Old Spice social media campaign. The brilliance of the campaign was not the great scripting of the YouTube videos, but in fact the PERSONALIZATION of those responses. Admit it, didn't you want to be one of the recipients of a video response from the Old Spice Guy? The best marketers using social media today are the ones that make it personal. Scott Monty is the face of Ford; Craig Newmark is Craigslist; Ted Rubin is OpenSky personified. My personal presence on Twitter is marked by silly puns known as The Daily CHUCKle Tweet. Do these corny jokes bring me - or my company - more business? Perhaps not, but they do help me connect with folks who may not pay attention to what I have to say and add a personal touch to my messages. I also work hard to connect directly with connections in real life - meetings, phone calls, etc. - to establish, maintain or strengthen our online relationships. In business, and in your personal life, take time to connect with people that you interact with online in a more personal way and put the social back in social media!