This week I attended my first Java Meet Up 612 (#jmu612). This is an ad hoc group of social media enthusiasts that gathers for an hour and a half a month over coffee and a particular topic of interest. It was a lively bunch of none-too-shy folks (they do call it social media, after all) that came together this week to share conversation centered around the managing of one's various social media personas.

How should you tweet differently for a brand (ie, @goodpeoplebrand) versus as an employee or a thought leader for that brand (ie, @btreinen)?

How much personality should you let in, and what's considered too much? Especially on the brand level?

When do your clients need a Facebook page, and when don't they?

How can you -- or can you? -- tie the brand personas you build via social media back to ROI?

As is generally the case with these emerging medias, there was no definitive consensus. There is no hard and fast. There are no absolutes. The ways and the wiles of social media are almost as varied as its practitioners. It was good to hear others' perspectives, though, and to tie the conversation back to clients' needs and ROI. In the end, I fall back on common sense both for myself and for my company. Don't do anything in social media you wouldn't do in person. Be real. Be human. Curate like a grown up. Be gracious. Laugh a little. Try to teach. Make it count. Embrace -- indeed, celebrate -- each others' varied personalities (and that goes for brands, too) but be true to your own.