I have two Twitter accounts. Deal with it.

Recently, I saw a question posed on Twitter by Kelly McDonnell, who manages social media accounts for a company called Convey Social.

Kelly asked, “Do you use Twitter for business, pleasure, or both?” When I answered, “Both,” and mentioned I have separate accounts for each, she asked whether that was something I’d recommend. My answer: YES.

There’s Twitter for work, and Twitter for home, and never the twain shall meet.

On my Twitter account for work, I follow 800+ people, most folks in the social media and content marketing world, and I have roughly the same number following me. It’s a public account; anyone can follow me. As I’m representing my company, I keep things professional (mostly).

On my personal account, I follow maybe 50 people and/or organizations, and I let 20 or so people follow me, all close friends. Because my account is private, folks have to request to follow me. Currently, I have 100+ people who have requested following me. Sorry, guys. Never going to happen.

Ooh, what does she have to hide? you may be thinking. Off the top of my head? Pictures of failed efforts in the kitchen, an affinity for swear words, my obsession with Sherlock …

It’s less about what I’m trying to hide, though, and more about keeping my private life, you know … private. All mine.

Maybe I’m weird, but I don’t want to read about marketing trends 24/7. And I don’t think the people I do business with need to know how I feel about Captain Hook on Once Upon a Time (okay, I’ll tell you: he’s cute).

My private account is a quiet space where I can talk about and read about the things that interest me in my off time. It’s quiet because I make it that way. There are no obligations — I follow an account because I want to, not because they follow me. It’s absolutely indulgent, and I’m okay with that.

Now, clearly some people have had very public issues managing separate private and business accounts. If you start a personal account in order to have somewhere to spew vitriolic rants, that’s your choice. My advice for making sure you’re always Tweeting from the appropriate account? Keep them separate — like, physically.

I Tweet from my work account only when I’m on my work laptop, and from my personal account only when I’m on my phone. No toggling back and forth on the same device for me; I keep it as separate and simple as possible.

What do you think about having two Twitter accounts? Any worries about mixing up the two? And seriously, how cute is Captain Hook?