Only 20 CEOs of the world’s Fortune 500 companies tweet according to FastCompany.com, yet a new report from the McKinseyGlobal Institute ‘The social economy: Unlocking value and productivity through social technologies’ suggests of the 4,200 companies analysed, social technologies stand to unlock between $900 billion to $1.3 trillion in value.

Being technologically savvy is pretty critical to maintaining our employability at work. I still feel like I’m 21, and thought I was quite ‘connected’, yet there have been a few instances recently that have made me question my ability to keep on top of things and therefore keep my thinking and my approach fresh. One event in question was a friend asking on Facebook how to find the hashtag on her keyboard. I said I don’t even know what a hashtag is. Another friend of hers replied (to me) #Imaybeoldbutyouareolder. A Twitter insult no less. It made me realise I am so in the dark about social media yet maybe people are tweeting critical insights in my field and I’m missing them? Even Buckingham Palace tweets. I’m not tweeting, or being tweeted at.

But should you tweet? Should you be an avid social technology user as a business person?

I’ve started asking individual clients – the very successful ones naturally – what they get up to by way of social media. You’ll be pleased to hear that, unless they work in media and entertainment, generally they’re avoiding exposing their good selves on Twitter. They lack both the time and the inclination to do the job properly on public forums and attach their names so openly to it – and frankly as with most of us lack the sharp wit and humour to do an interesting job. They’re typically on LinkedIn, the choice du jour for touting your wares and being headhunted. All however check out prospective job candidates with basic google searches. That raucous hen night kissing a policeman photo? It will come back to haunt you in the form of a withdrawn offer, confirmed by CareerBuilder’s research into 2,300 HR professionals.

It’s worth keeping in mind the variety of ways it can backfire, though even this depends on perspective. In the UK recently Waitrose, the supermarket chain, challenged shoppers to “finish the sentence: ‘I shop at Waitrose because …’ #WaitroseReasons“. Basically this opened the floodgates for ridicule of the shop’s posh image. Tweets posted included: “I shop at Waitrose because it makes me feel important and I absolutely detest being surrounded by poor people”, “I also shop at Waitrose because I was once in the Holloway Road branch and heard a dad say ‘Put the papaya down, Orlando!'”

In the end Waitrose tweeted: “Thanks for all the genuine and funny #WaitroseReasons tweets. We always like to hear what you think and enjoyed reading most of them.”

The jury is still out – a PR coup or a bit of a damp squib? At the very minimum a salutary lesson around what can happen and why you need to proceed with caution.