Why I'm Removing Twitter Updates from Facebook

26 Jul 2009

The Time Crunch

Let’s face it. As bloggers and business owners, we don’t have a lot of time to spare on social networks. Personally, I like to spend time on Twitter, but I don’t have a lot of extra time for Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Sure, I make time when I can, but it just isn’t that easy to find time in an already jam packed day. This is why I tried to cut corners and use Twitter to automatically update my status in Facebook. I used this feature for several months and thought it was working well, but it looks like I was wrong and now I’ve decided to pull the plug.

What Went Wrong

I use Facebook different than many people. I don’t keep a fan page (I have one I just don’t use it) because I like to stay connected and I think that having a fan page can at times look pompous. I don’t have 5,000 friends on Facebook because I just don’t have time to get there. As a result, I’ve got a mix of old friends, new friends, family, and associates that see my status updates. Although most of my business associates, blog readers, and fellow networkers understand the use of Twitter with Facebook, I would constantly receive comments from people about how many status updates I had on Facebook. Many of them simply didn’t get it and worse…many didn’t want to.

My family and friends don’t need to see what I’m doing on Twitter. It simply doesn’t interest them. My old high school pals thought I was crazy and wondered who I was talking to. They want to talk about their kids, their jobs, and their pictures…not blogs, RT’s, and social media.

I thought maybe I could educate them…pique their interest. I was wrong. They simply don’t care.

Why It Doesn’t Matter

No one told me to remove my updates, but I knew that someone might eventually. I didn’t want to be removed from news feeds and I didn’t want to scare away any friends or family members. I realized that posting the same message everywhere can be rather redundant and I’m thankful for the lesson in humility and in understanding an audience. The fact is, if people want to learn about what I do on Twitter, they can follow me there. Nothing wrong with posting occassional links on Facebook that point to a Twitter page, but it is important to remember to treat Facebook like the medium it is.

I don’t believe there is anything wrong with using this feature on Facebook, but there is a time and a place. It might work better on a fan page where you can target a specific demographic or audience. I’d recommend keeping it there.

I know how to use Facebook, but I’ve been too lazy to do it. Thankfully, I’ve gotten a gentle reminder to get back to the basics and to make time for interaction on Facebook. I’ve got a group there I’ve been slow to promote, and I’ve got some other promotions I need to manage. Being lazy just won’t cut it.

Where are you trying to cut corners in your marketing efforts? Where could you improve personal interaction? These are questions we should be asking ourselves every day regardless of how much time we have to spare.

Then again, I could be crazy…what do you think?

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Devon Dudgeon

There is an app on Facebook called "selective Twitter status". You can update your Facebook status just on select tweets by adding the hashtag #fb at the end. Very useful... although I find that most of my Twitter posts would be of absolutely no interest to my Facebook friends -- totally different "audience".
.-= Devon Dudgeon´s last blog ..Amazon shows how to apologize =-.
Matthew

I've discovered this problem too. Those that I connect with on Facebook are not the same as those I connect with via Twitter.

It's a case of mixing channels of communication which can mean people are confused when your Facebook status updates change every 10 minutes or when tech-specific updates are made to a community that otherwise could not care less.
Robert Bravery

I wish we had more hours of the day. I also auto update other Social Network pages like twitter, whether is works or not I am yet to figure out. But I must say, I do get the occasional response from Facebook. These are friends that do not use twitter, so for me it's much of a muchness.

I do try to get to Faebook and do the personal thing. I think that if you just rely on auto updates, then it might prove to be counter productive.
.-= Robert Bravery´s last blog ..Misunderstandings about the Internet =-.