If you have a business or a blog to publicise, you might be told that linking Facebook and Twitter accounts will save you time. It will, but it will also annoy some of your followers. Here are the reasons why I do not recommend it:
When auto-publishing Twitter updates to Facebook
- Twitter updates are very different to those on Facebook. On Twitter, it is acceptable to use abbreviations (or even text speak) to enable a message to fit into the 140 characters. Customers or readers who follow you on Facebook will either realised that you publish simultaneously to Twitter, or wonder why you are not writing in proper English
- Where a hashtag may be used on Twitter to add emphasis, or to connect to others tweeting on the same topic, on Facebook they just look daft
- @mentions look daft on Facebook, and have no function
- Twitter moves faster and you can post many more updates than on Facebook. For a business page on Facebook you should be posting perhaps 3 or 4 updates a day, at the very most – only one or two of these actually advertising your business directly.
When auto-publishing Facebook updates to Twitter
- Twitter users who are not on Facebook, or do not have their accounts linked, will not be able to read the update. It is really annoying to read a tweet, ‘This is an amazing blog post, a MUST READ’ followed by a FB link that doesn’t open.
- The same happens with photos, and is especially irritating when someone uploads a several photos
- When you post on Facebook, you probably waffle a bit more at the beginning of a sentence, just cause you can. When that goes on Twitter you lose the bit that is most interesting or important for your followers. The bit that makes them open the link. Doh.
Either way, your customers immediately notice that you are publishing on both Twitter and Facebook at the same time. Does this matter, you may ask. Well, it does give the impression that you are not really putting much effort into connecting with your customers.
SOCIAL media, with the emphasis squarely on ‘social’ means communicating with your followers.
Twitter accounts that are filled with Facebook updates are often the ones without much communication going on. The whole point of Twitter is to chat to the people who you want to buy your products, or read your blog.
The same goes on Facebook. If you auto-update from Twitter, then are you answering the questions your customers are asking? If yes, then take two minutes a day to craft a well though out message for them personally.
You don’t HAVE to be everywhere. Yes, Twitter and Facebook are great and might bring you more customers or readers, but if you are not doing it professionally then they will not help at all. See also my article on Social Media Fatigue.
If you only have time for one Social Media channel, then choose the one that you think will bring you the most custom and forget about the rest.
I'm relatively new to social media and completely agree about not linking Facebook and Twitter accounts, it seems just plain lazy with no thought or imagination. The same goes for inane scheduled Tweets flogging a service or product - *yawn*. I liked your old post on Social Media Fatigue - 'fatigue' conjures up how I feel at times and is probably why I haven't bothered with Google + yet - I feel weary and fatigued just thinking about getting to grips with it.
I keep trying Google+ and giving up after a few days. I have heard it is good for advertising blogs and companies, so am giving it another go.
There does seem to be a feeling of 'I MUST do this because everyone else is', rather than stopping and thinking if it actually will hit one's target market.
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