Your CEO wants to be a social media influencer. Is it cool or cringy?

For years, Braden Wallake has posted everything from concern lessons to carnal pictures connected his LinkedIn page. A fateful midweek station connected a late-summer time stopped the selling enforcement successful his tracks.

Wallake shared a teary-eyed selfie with a connection astir his feelings aft laying off staff. Just similar that, helium was the "Crying CEO."

"I woke up the adjacent day, texted my selling idiosyncratic and said, 'I deliberation I went viral past night,'" said Wallake, whose station has raked successful much than 57,000 reactions and 10,000 comments.

Users blasted the HyperSocial CEO arsenic being "manipulative" and displaying "self indulgence." The photograph "would marque a large dart board," different wrote.

Corporate executives and founders similar Wallake were sold connected the thought that a vibrant societal media beingness tin boost their idiosyncratic and firm-wide marque awareness. But the world is little picture-perfect than it's made retired to be.

In galore cases, these leaders travel disconnected not arsenic relatable but arsenic cringey. And they're learning the hard mode that their integer footprints tin adjacent person worldly concern implications.

"There tin beryllium existent benefits from CEOs being online, but determination tin besides beryllium large risks," said Ann Mooney Murphy, a Stevens Institute of Technology prof who has studied however institution leaders gain societal media personage status. "One needs to tread carefully."

More than 7 retired of 10 Fortune 100 CEOs with societal platforms posted astatine slightest erstwhile a period successful 2024, a 32% summation from the twelvemonth prior, according to an investigation from communications steadfast H/Advisors Abernathy released this week. CEOs person flocked successful peculiar to the work-focused societal tract LinkedIn, wherever they station 3 times a period connected average.

An progressive societal media beingness tin assistance physique marque designation and thrust attraction from mainstream quality outlets, Murphy said. It tin besides let executives to make para-social relationships straight with consumers — thing that was erstwhile reserved for more-traditional celebrities similar actors oregon athletes, she said.

While institution quality was king successful these posts, H/Advisors Abernathy recovered executives devoting much societal existent property to sharing idiosyncratic happenings. This softer benignant of contented — examples of which see Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg sharing pictures from Taylor Swift's "Eras" tour and Goldman Sachs' David Solomon posting details for his DJ sets — tin assistance support followers engaged, Murphy said.

But successful caller years, a increasing database of anecdotes similar Wallake's "Crying CEO" acquisition amusement however posting done beingness tin spell awry.

Jason Yanowitz boasted connected X successful October that Blockworks, the crypto institution helium co-founded, saw "massive growth" and deed "record revenues" successful 2025. He besides said the institution was shuttering its quality part and recommended staffers to anyone hiring journalists covering integer currencies.

One idiosyncratic suggested that Yanowitz forgo smiley faces and onslaught a code with little "triumphancy" successful a station announcing occupation cuts. Someone other replied that "before jumping into what's next," helium should "address the existent radical who were impacted."

Yanowitz, who declined CNBC's interrogation request, aboriginal wrote connected X that helium "should not person mentioned revenue" successful the archetypal post.

Around the aforesaid clip arsenic Yanowitz's tweet, a societal media video featuring Snowflake gross main Mike Gannon offered a lawsuit survey connected however these incidents tin germinate into real-world crises.

In an Instagram clip viewed millions of times, Gannon told a thoroughfare interviewer that the information retention steadfast was slated to rake successful $10 cardinal "in a mates of years." Shortly after, Snowflake said successful a regulatory filing that statements made successful the interrogation were not authorized and that investors "should not trust upon" them. The institution declined to marque Gannon disposable for an interview.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has shared visions for his concern ventures on societal media successful betwixt musings astir authorities and taste issues. Two years ago, Musk recovered himself in tribunal defending comments related to concern plans made connected X, his societal media level formerly known arsenic Twitter.

In respective instances, readers person responded straight to executives whose contented they find problematic oregon cringe-inducing. Some, similar Ryan Benson, person besides mocked the broader inclination of concern leaders' attempting to link straight via societal media.

"It's conscionable disingenuous," said Benson, 28. "They're not trying to talk with radical the mode that possibly an influencer has occurrence in. They're trying to speech astatine radical to marque them deliberation thing astir their position."

Executives' missteps connected societal media tin catalyze discontent from investors, consumers oregon employees, according to Murphy of the Stevens Institute of Technology. In immoderate situations, she said societal media statements could pb to accrued regulatory oregon ineligible hazard for the companies they represent.

Despite the downfalls, firm leaders who person seen the underbelly of societal media don't regret being online.

HyperSocial's Wallake said helium initially took clip distant from LinkedIn to fto the particulate settee and present thinks doubly earlier making a post. But Wallake inactive recommends different concern managers harness societal media to turn their brands fixed the benefits. If idiosyncratic does bring up his teary picture, Wallake brushes it off.

"If radical privation to telephone maine the 'Crying CEO,' they're much than invited to," Wallake said. "If they really get to conscionable me, they're going to spot maine smiling mode much often than they're going to spot maine ever crying."

When Yehong Zhu, co-founder of media exertion startup Zette AI, jumped connected a day-in-my-life trend, responders roasted her implicit perceived laziness. People said she should beryllium "embarrassed" and was "fundamentally useless to society." One commenter said they were "printing this retired and taping it to the partition to punctual maine each clip I drawback myself believing successful meritocracy."

Zhu received handwritten hatred message tied to the station sent to her office. But she besides noticed a flood of property sum that included the company's sanction and signups to a merchandise waitlist, underscoring the powerfulness of publicity — adjacent if it's negative.

"After determination was this immense influx of attention, I realized, you cognize what, possibly each attraction is bully attention," Zhu said. "As agelong arsenic your sanction is successful their mouth, you're doing thing right."

Zhu aboriginal understood that her station was taken arsenic "rage bait," a genre of contented truthful infamous that Oxford named it the 2025 connection of the year. She's presently undergoing a societal media rebrand and is considering leaning toward arguable posts — with the anticipation of winning much attraction online.

"I was not trying to rage bait," she said of the archetypal post. "The time that I really effort to rage bait, everybody volition beryllium really enraged."