Dive Summary:

• Twitter offers CEOs the chance to cultivate their brands and personal images, appearing more accessible and authentic, but social media is not without risks for them.
• A recent report from CEO.com and Domo indicated that seven in 10 Fortune 500 CEOs have no major social media presence, but some CEO's at companies such as General Electric Co. and Yahoo Inc. have set up Twitter accounts.
• Still Twitter presents certain risks with its demands for quick responses and potential to allow comments to go viral.

From the article:

When General Electric Co. GE -0.22% Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt tweeted for the first time this month, his "Hello Twitter" was greeted with some snarky replies, including this one: "@JeffImmelt how come my grandfather got on twitter before you?"

While arguably late to the game, Mr. Immelt's debut on the microblogging site makes him a rarity among chief executives, who have generally steered clear of social media even as their companies have embraced it to commune with customers and pursue new business. ...