Today, more and more people are focused on building and maintaining their personal brands. This is especially true for those of us working in the communications field. When it comes to your personal brand, there isn’t much that is more telling than your social media presence.

We know that current and future employers will check our social accounts, but these platforms are also where we express personal opinions, connect with friends, and more. With our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest pulling double duty, it can be very difficult to strike the right balance between personal and professional. For many people, the platform that seems to give them the most trouble is Twitter.

One of my favorite PR pros (and fellow Temple Alum), Jason Mollica, recently had a post published on PR Daily that tackled the tricky question of whether people should have two Twitter accounts — one professional and one personal. In the post, Jason gives several reasons why one account is enough, and I have to say, I’m inclined to agree.

In addition to the points made by Jason in his post, for me it comes down to something simple — if you don’t want people to see it, it shouldn’t be online in the first place. If you take care to ensure that you’re never posting anything inappropriate, then you won’t have to worry about setting up two separate Twitter accounts. The same logic goes for retweeting — just because you didn’t type the words yourself doesn’t mean you can’t be held accountable for them once they are on your feed.

My boss is something of a social media guru and we follow each other on Twitter, so I always use her as my barometer when tweeting. If I think she’d have a problem with my words (or pictures), then I don’t press send.

Your boss may not be Twitter-savy, or maybe you are the boss, but you should always have someone in mind when you are about to send a tweet. Taking that extra moment to reflect on your post before you hit send can save you in the long run.

No one is saying you can’t have fun on Twitter. In fact, inserting your personality and opinions only adds to the authenticity of your personal brand, but they key is to always be mindful of your content.

What guidelines do you use to protect your personal brand on Twitter? Do you have two accounts or have you managed to balance everything using one account?

This post was written by PPRA Blog Chair Lauren Cox. Lauren is a Public Relations Specialist in the Office of the CIty Representative, where she works on the City’s major events like the Wawa Welcome America! Festival and the GORE-TEX Philadelphia Marathon. Connect with her on Twitter or LinkedIn.