10 tweets that will incite a PR firestorm

As a result, many of them continue to avoid the social networking site.

Today The Wall Street Journal reported on the Twitter-shy CEOs.

“Chief executives are under pressure these days to appear accessible and ‘authentic,’ but social media … poses risks for top managers and the companies they represent, in the form of lawsuits, leaked trade secrets or angered customers,” WSJ‘s Leslie Kwoh and Melissa Korn wrote.

For all its worth—and the social network has a ton of worth—Twitter has its pitfalls, such as tweets that could lead to PR flare-ups, social media firestorms, and firings.

Here are 10 such tweets, with real-life examples:

The “Insult Your Client” tweet

“True confession but I’m in one of those towns where I scratch my head and say ‘I would die if I had to live here.'”

This tweet might seem innocuous—until you read the back story.