Jun
A lot of individuals are making use of the ability provided by many of the Social Media tools to cross post to multiple platforms. This was a much needed feature for Brands as they wanted and needed to maximize their investment in Social Media, they have limited resources and for the most part they are trying to gain ground rapidly.
I actually recommend utilizing these services for many of my clients, in certain circumstances and usually on a case by case basis. However, as an individual I shy away from them. The biggest difference between building a personal brand over building a product brand is that its, well, personal.
Individuals who are using these services are flooding the revised Facebook stream with their Twitter comments, they are also filling their FriendFeed stream, Plaxo and several other places as well. The analogy that comes to mind to me when I see this is that these people are like someone invited to a party who only knows one joke, they then move from room to room at the party telling each new group the same joke repeatedly. Soon everyone at the party has heard the joke, but still they keep telling it.
The person that was once funny, is now annoying. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. Personally those people who are feeding their Twitter stream to Facebook and don’t share anything original on Facebook get “hidden”. I’ve already read your Twitter post on Twitter I don’t need to see it again on Facebook.
The point is this, if you are trying to build a personal brand, spend some time being personal. If you can’t think of something original to say on one platform or another that’s ok, better that you say nothing that simply repeat yourself.
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This is also true for email marketing. Consider this: if you're promoting an event, and you put out an announcement via LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, email, etc., odds are some of your contacts are on multiple platforms and will see your message more than once. This is generally a good thing, except when they see that message all at once.
Thus, cross posting extends to your email marketing as well… sounds like a need for an editorial calendar!
I agree with this 100% – the basic rules are simple – just act like you would in real life. Would you go around telling the same joke or having the exact same conversation to all 400 people at a wedding?
Well said — I was wondering if I was the only one annoyed at reading the exact same posts on all of the different social media platforms. Automation is not always the best choice.
Thanks!
My thinking has evolved on this. I used to think it was a good idea to send my tweets (automatically) in both Facebook and FriendFeed as well, because it might reach people there who weren't necessarily in other channels (many of my "non-social media friends" are on Facebook but not Twitter, for example).
Over time, however, I've found that my Facebook contacts who aren't on Twitter are more confused and annoyed by the Tweets, with (to them) nonsensical @ messages and such. And on Friendfeed, well, 90 percent of the messages in my stream are tweets from people who I also follow on Twitter. I didn't want to be contributing to that some effect to my followers.
My approach now? If a tweet would also be relevant, on its own, in Facebook I post it using the Selective Twitter app (simply by adding "#fb" somewhere in my tweet). Otherwise, I try to have separate conversations in Facebook. And as for FriendFeed, I'm considering hiding all incoming tweets.
Now for brands and businesses, it might be a slightly different story. FriendFeed certainly can be used as an RSS aggregator, and a brand might decide to import its press releases, videos, tweets, etc. such that it can be compiled in a single location. That's not the worst idea.
But in general, I advise separating your work into different channels and not cross-posting all over the place.
Bryan | @BryanPerson
Does the same apply to people who only RT other peoples articles / tweets ? I'd like to think so.
I have to say that I walked in here prepared to argue against your post, but it has given me reason to reflect on my own practices. My FB friends tend not to be on Twitter so I thought there wouldn't be an issue with me crossposting through Friendfeed. Yet, I don't think any one of my FB peeps have commented on a Twitter-based post there. It's all been a message left specifically on Facebook. So, I just shut down the FF feed and we'll see if my Facebook friends breath a sigh of relief (at least those who didn't mute me altogether). Thanks for the provocative post.
Chris
Glad you found the post useful. Let me know what the result is, I think you will find it beneficial.
Simon