Posted by on Nov 3, 2011 in Marketing, Social Media | 3 comments

Who has time to post individual updates to Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter? We’re all running a mile a minute trying to cram more and more things into our day, so why not make life a little easier on ourselves by automating some of the process? It’s so simple to use Hootsuite or Tweetdeck or one of the dozens of other platforms to feed all your posts from one network to all the others, creating a never-ending loop of content. It’s fast. It’s painless. It’s easy. As a social media company, people confess to this all the time. And it makes me sad.

It’s wrong, and it’s ruining your social media efforts. Here are five reasons to stop linking your social media accounts together–now.

1. It’s confusing. For instance, if you push tweets to Facebook (or LinkedIn), your messages might be filled with strange symbols that make no sense in the context of Facebook–like @ signs and # signs that aren’t traditionally used on Facebook. Because significantly more people use Facebook than use Twitter, these can come off as just plain bewildering.

2. The timing is off. People on Twitter might tweet 50 or more times a day while thinking nothing of it. On Facebook, a couple of posts a day is acceptable. On LinkedIn, some people post only once a day, and many post far less. By connecting all the accounts, you’re ruining the natural timing and pacing of each network. Posting once a day on Twitter is far too little–but posting 50 times a day on LinkedIn is far too much.

3. It’s repetitive. Some people might follow you on multiple networks, believe it or not. While duplicating an occasional post is fine, when you duplicate everything, people get bored. And then they unfollow, unlike or disconnect. After all, what’s the point in following you on multiple networks when you’re just going to repeat yourself like an echo?

4. Things fall through the cracks. When you post every update to every network, there’s really no reason to regularly check each network. After all, everything feeds automatically, so why waste the time? This is much more efficient. Sure, you might check your primary network, but what if someone posts something in response on a little-visited site like LinkedIn, or it gets lost in the shuffle on Facebook? Overly automating makes it too easy for messages to get lost in your misguided quest for efficiency.

5. It’s missing the point. Pushing all updates to all networks means you’re using social media as a broadcast network, not as a way for genuine communication. You’re forcing one untargeted message down the throats of anyone willing to like, follow or connect with you–and that’s a disservice to them. And it’s a disservice to you. Take the time to craft interesting, unique messages for each social network. If you don’t have the time, it’s okay to focus on one network. Make your LinkedIn page the best it can be, or really pour some love into Facebook. But don’t just spray your message and pray it hits someone.

Need help?  Consider attending one of the Free social media seminars offered by Roundpeg, an Indianapolis social media firm.

 

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  • http://boldthinkcreative.com Joel Goodwin

    It is so hard to get in the habit of manually doing this across all the different applications but generally you have made a good case for not doing it. I try and use HootSuite sparingly and more often will use #FB in my tweets to manually push just to FB. I know that doesn’t deal with the “weird symbols” thing but it is a start. I think also it is important to really regulate the amount of blogging / tweeting / FB updates you are making and the pushing can really impact that. There are a few that I have unfollowed primarily because the amount of tweets. I advise my clients to use SM for purposeful AND meaningful communication and good advice from @heystephanie is to “stick to the rule of thirds – a third of your tweets target: industry, members and club”. Thanks for the insights!

  • http://www.bodyandsoulsparetreat.com Robin Doerr

    In the case of our professional association, I disagree. They aren’t using updates on anything so I suggested Hootsuite so at least something would get regularly published to membership that is social media savvy. In a volunteer driven environment, many communication managers are stressed beyond belief and some news is better than no news, and non engaged readership. It’s not optimal, but it is a start. Once they get their toes in the water, I am hoping that checking in with Twitter/FB and Linked in will be as regular as checking emails and phone messages. For some folks its not- yet.

  • http://www.roundpeg.biz Allison

    Joel: It’s a start. Everyone has to start somewhere. In general, I dislike the #FB push because it signals to everyone on Twitter that you’re also pushing to Facebook, which to me is a turnoff. Also, using a third party application significantly decreases visibility on Facebook these days–some studies are saying up to 89% fewer impressions when using Hootsuite or another software system. Just another reason to take the time to address each network individually.

    Robin: I agree with you to a point. I think that Facebook and LinkedIn updates can be duplicated for the most part without significant problems (with the same caveats about using third party tools for posting as mentioned above). However, connecting Twitter to those accounts is going to do one of a few things: Be overwhelming and confusing, or be so sparse as to be nearly pointless on Twitter, which moves at breakneck speed. As I said in the post, if time and resources are a problem, focus on doing one or two networks really well. Better that than do all of them poorly.

    Thanks for the comments!