In 2009 I wrote a column mocking the early efforts of executives on Twitter and urging them to cease and desist.
Seven years later they have spectacularly ignored my advice. Research from Insead reveals that 80 per cent of them are on social networks — for the very good reason that customers and employees are said to think better of any executive who is.
The business school has compiled a global ranking of the 20 most influential chief executives on the site, which I’ve been studying for tips on how it ought to be done. Number one is Tim Cook, who has 2.6m followers and is much retweeted. He gets it, the researchers say, because what he writes is personal. This sounds good, until you look at the tweets.