Death to the Facebook-Twitter Autopost
Up until today my tweets on Twitter have been nothing more than an auto feed from my public Facebook updates. I did this for three reasons:
1. I’m lazy. Updating Facebook and Twitter is annoying and one extra step that didn’t seem worth it.
2. Twitter is annoying all around. If I didn’t have to use it I wouldn’t. But people use it, and they expect me to use it, so here I am.
3. Up until now my Facebook friends and Twitter followers have been two different audiences. Rarely anyone who followed me on Twitter was also a Facebook friend. So by updating the same content to both, people were not annoyed at seeing it twice.
But things have changed. Not only do people now follow me on both, but I also have new followers that don’t necessarily need to see (or want to see) everything I post.
So I’ve made some changes, and going forward this is how I’m going to use the networks:
I’ll use Facebook the majority of the time to post anything and everything. If I want you to engage with the content I’m posting, other than just sharing it with your friends then I’ll put it on Facebook. Facebook is perfect for conversations, sharing, and communicating.
There are two ways you can follow me on Facebook:
FRIEND ME: If we’ve met in person, or we work together, and we actually know each other then we can be Facebook friends. I may limit what you see by adding you to certain groups on Facebook that block more intimate details of my life (like the kids in the bathtub, or my home address), but if you’re a friend on Facebook then you’ll see mostly everything and that’s because you’re someone I can trust.
SUBSCRIBE: If we don’t know each other, but you’d still like to follow along and view my updates, then you can subscribe to me on Facebook. You’ll be able to receive my public status updates in your news feed, and anything else I’ve marked for the public. This is a great way to follow along with me if we don’t actually know each other, or if you really don’t care to see photos of my kids or get too personal.
Changing your subscribe settings: The Subscribe feature is new on Facebook, and most people still don’t understand it.
Here’s two tips to help you:
1. If we’re friends already and you wish to just subscribe to me instead, go ahead and de-friend me, then click the Subscribe button on my profile and you’ll be able to choose exactly what you subscribe to (updates, photos, check-ins, etc.)
2. Or if we’re friends and you wish to remain that way, but you think I post too many photos or I check in to too many places, then go to my profile/timeline and hover over the Subscribed button. You can then disable the things you don’t care to see from me.
Twitter is public and anyone can follow me. But I hate having conversations on Twitter. I post something and then people want to go back and forth on it like we’re on Facebook. Twitter just isn’t setup well for that.
Also, the majority of people following me on Twitter just want updates and news from me, they don’t necessarily want to engage. So from now on, what I’ll post to Twitter will be mainly informational. This is what Twitter does best, a feed of news and updates, and if you like what you see you can retweet it to your followers but there’s little room for conversations and community.
If you’d like to engage with me on Twitter, here are a couple suggestions:
@Replies - Don’t be shy about @ replying to me on Twitter. A comment or quick question about something I posted is completely appropriate. Having a full on conversation 6 or 7 @ replies long is annoying not only for me, but for everyone else who follows either of us on Twitter.
DM - If you’re anti Facebook, or you’re following up with something I only posted to Twitter, feel free to DM me and we’ll have a conversation. But honestly, just go on Facebook - it’s much easier.
Other Networks
TUMBLR - I’m also going to be creating a lot more content here on my Tumblr blog. If I have something to say that’s more than 140 or so characters, then I’ll blog about it here and share it on Facebook and Twitter.
LINKEDIN - I do post to LinkedIN occasionally, but only if its something 100% business related or promoting a project I’m working on.
INSTAGRAM - Now that Instagram posts full size photos directly to Facebook instead of a link that takes you to the lame Instagram landing pages, I’ve been using it every time I post photos. I love the interface, the filters and the separate community of artistic mobile photographers. Right now the majority of photos I post to Instagram will auto-post to Facebook. Sometimes I’ll upload several shots of the same thing and will only pick out 1 or 2 to send to Facebook, so if you follow along on Instagram you’ll see all the photos and if you follow along on Facebook you’ll only see the important ones. If you follow me on both, you’ll see duplicate stuff - sorry.
FLICKR - Anytime I post a photo to Facebook it automatically gets uploaded to my Flickr account. That’s because I use Flickr as my desktop screensaver, as well as the screensaver on our Apple TV at home. I in no way intend Flickr to be something for other people to follow me on, but you are free to follow me there if you wish.
You’re Welcome
I hope this is helpful, and that following me on Facebook or Twitter will be a much more enjoyable experience for you. If you have any comments or feedback please let me know!
