Something has been bothering me quite a bit lately so I thought I would talk a bit about it. It would be safe to say that almost everyone reading this blog has a Twitter and Facebook account. Some are more active on Twitter and some on Facebook. When it comes to social networking platforms, Twitter and Facebook beats pretty much every other platform (besides LinkedIn when it comes to professional networking) that are out there. I am a pretty heavy user on Twitter. I enjoy the service and use it both as a work and leisure medium to network and interact with fellow users. I use Facebook as well but not as aggressively as I use Twitter.
Lately I have been seeing an increasing trend among Facebook users. The trend isn’t really something that I would say is unacceptable but it can be when the true meaning of networking itself is jeopardized. The trend that I am talking about is importing twitter updates to Facebook. Personally, I am not against it but I don’t see a reason to have every single one of your tweets being shown on Facebook. Usually when you are importing your tweets to Facebook anything that isn’t a reply (@username) is shown as a Facebook update, including retweets. This to some of your facebook friends might be confusing. Twitter is huge but it certainly doesn’t mean everyone in your circle is using it, or using it as heavily as you do. Your choice of networking platform might be Twitter, their’s Facebook. Then again it’s your choice. It’s your account….who cares? Well, the network of people you are trying to connect on Facebook might.
The reason why I see importing every tweet to Facebook as a problem is because many people don’t even choose to see if anyone is actually responding to those tweets on Facebook. Although they are tweets on twitter when you import it to Facebook, it becomes a Facebook update. Your friends on Facebook might be commenting on it, they might ask you questions related to the update and never get an answer. Why? Because many people fail to go back to Facebook and see what’s going in that part of the world. This to me signals a huge problem. You are using two platforms simultaneously and ignoring one group of your friends and constantly connecting with the other. That to me isn’t effective networking. It is embracing one group and alienating the other.
I personally am against importing all your tweets to Facebook. I import my tweets as well but I use the application that allows you to send only tweets that you select to Facebook. I am in favor of importing select tweets rather than importing every single one of them is because it helps me become an active participant on both. Rather than embracing one and alienating another. I update twitter multiple times each day but not so much Facebook. When I select a tweet that I want imported to Facebook, it’s much easier to track who is saying what, not just on twitter but on Facebook as well. I will be tweeting this post with a hashtag #fb which will import the tweet to my Facebook. This way my update on Facebook remains fresh and it is much easier for me to see what others have to say both on twitter and Facebook regarding my views on this subject if they choose to.
That’s what’s been bugging me lately. What you choose to do is your choice but I would definitely suggest using the select tweet app to import your tweets to Facebook. It will help you manage both platforms and be a part of both networks in a much more effective and manageable way.
Feel free to add me on either Twitter, Facebook or both.
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Hi, My name is Ritu. I am a member of SMA (Social Media Anonymous) ;-) & help bloggers and businesses utilize the social web. 
Ritu; very well said!
I made the mistake for 6 hours when I first discovered the twitter enable app on facebook, and immediately realized it’s an issue.
Facebook’s culture is different than of twitter. Some people missed out on that.
I think having one’s twitter updates enabled on facebook, will cause nothing but being booted out from your ‘real’ network of family, friends, close colleagues and others.
Thanks for bringing this up…
Ky Ekinci
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on twitter: @KyEkinci (personal)+ @OfficeDivvy (business)
Thanks Ritu. I very much agree. There are many status updates on Facebook that are VERY obviously aimed at a twitter audience (you can usually tell, especially if they contain twitter words such as tweet, tweeps, etc). I personally find this offensive. The authors are very obviously NOT taking the time to individually engage the Facebook audience.
Not that this is a huge problem in some cases, but if their goal is to create relationships they are going about it the wrong way. Facebook and Twitter cater to different audiences, and should require different methods of communication.
That is my opinion at least. . . Looking forward to what others have to say!
Good point and well worth mentioning for those who are new to this.
I for one have twitter update my facebook status for not only archiving reasons, but also because I want my facebook friends to know what I’m up to. I use to have my updates split, but it was a headache keeping track. Now I just have them merge together. Yes, I check facebook as often as I do twitter and carry the conversation over to either network.
My friends say I’m on facebook and twitter too much, which I am, but that is how I connect and stay current with my network of friends.
Ky and Marjae : Thanks for sharing your view on this subject. Glad you liked the article.
Taylor : Exactly! If someone is going to keep up with both accounts, I am all for it. but I have been seeing many people ignoring Facebook altogether while their updates roll out every 5 minutes. That is why I ended up writing this post. Hopefully it will help some change their habit.
Ritu: glad to see yr response that there are kosher uses to update both twitter and facebook.
for me, Facebook and Twitter have distinct boundaries in that one is closed (need an invitation to see my profile/updates) and one is open (read: updates are public)
thus, I consider my Facebook mini-feed available to my inner circle of friends and my Twitter timeline avail to the general public (i don’t protect my updates)
I’ll often post updates on Facebook I don’t necessarily feel in the space to post publicly. My friends in my network appreciate this level of intimacy.
so updating twitter feels like i’m standing on a podium facing the world and my facebook friends feel included.
as I consider facebook my primary page, i do what I can to make my mini-feed rich by reviewing books, movies, favorites, bookmarks and stay pretty active commenting (and “liking”) on items in mini-feeds of others.’
this is my 2 cents of how i integrate the two!
Hey there.
Hmmm… Whilst I see your point Ritu, personally, I’m all for combining the two.
This does come down to a few reasons though, that I think you and a couple others have touched on. From my perspective, I use Facebook more than Twitter. Facebook to me is, like Chinarut said, a more private place for me to say stuff, post links to whatever stupid video I found on youtube, me slating the 80′s for the hideous music – that kind of stuff – I don’t really accept people on Facebook I haven’t already met, so I know there’s already some relationship there.
Twitter on the other hand (again mentioned previously) is completely public. I use the two for separate reasons – also being a webdesigner, Twitter for me, is a public forum to talk about, for want of a better word, more serious stuff, as well as follow more public events and movements (like MJ’s death or the Iran elections for eg). Facebook is not where my professional self lives – I need that separation, and Twitter and Facebook provide them very well.
The fact that I can set them up so FB updates with my tweets I love as it means my friends get to see and interact with the more public stuff going on with me.
I generally don’t retweet stuff, or reply much, altho I do tag. I guess there is another part of me that likes seeing those little #tags in the FB updates as it provides a connection back to my Twitter world, and maybe prompts friends who don’t use Twitter to start.
Don’t get me wrong, I can see where you’re coming from, and I love how you use Twitter, and enjoy following you. I think you’re right in what you’re saying, but hopefully I’ve been able to explain that in different circumstances, auto-updating FB from twitter can also work very well.
I think it depends. I actually find it particularly useful for one important reason: I use Twitter more for business, and Facebook more for friends and family.
Anything I publish on Twitter is fine for my friends (most of whom I originally met through work) and family. My Twitter feed is totally fine for 100% public consumption; my Facebook feed is not. But most of what goes on in my Facebook feed is built off what originally happened in my Twitter feed. Without having my original Twitter feed in there, the additions in Facebook have no context and would make no sense.
I think that, like most things, the problem is haphazardness and lack of follow-thru. If you are managing both and actively set it up to accomplish a specific objective, then there can be perfectly valid reasons to do it.
Good points, although I’d recommend using a twitter desktop client that supports facebook updates as opposed to selective twitter, such as TweetDeck (my client of choice) or Seesmic Desktop.
With that, you can choose on the fly which network you update (or both), as well as see your friends facebook updates. Integrating them allows you to keep better connected between the two circles without too much work on your part.
Also, just doing a quick check of Facebook every few hours is all it takes to keep caught up with any comments you may have on there with your updates.
Regardless, great post–I find myself contemplating all the time which tweets I would like to syndicate with my Facebook account.
I would be curious to know–how do you determine which posts you put on Facebook and which ones you keep Twitter-exclusive? Are there any criteria that make them Facebook worthy, or vice versa?
*Follow me if you like: twitter.com/alexpriest
I’ve incorporated my activities from a variety of different sevices that have a social aspect into Facebook by simply configuring my Facebook to pull RSS updates from these sites. These feeds show on my Facebook homepage, but they don’t update my status, so are less obtrusive. I also use the Facebook app you mention to specifically update my Facebook status with a tweet if I so choose. If someone responds or questions me about one of these updates (and they do) – I get an e-mail and I always respond via Facebook. I spend more time on twitter but I don’t see it as any sort of conflict. It’s fairly easy to manage both.
“I would be curious to know–how do you determine which posts you put on Facebook and which ones you keep Twitter-exclusive? Are there any criteria that make them Facebook worthy, or vice versa?”
For me, I would go by the rule of “Would I be happy with a potential or current client reading this? Does it portray my webdesign business in a positive and professional light?”
If it does, and I also feel its interesting / relevant, then it gets Tweeted, (and consequently updated on FB too). If it doesn’t, or I’m in doubt, I don’t Tweet it, but I have no problems putting anything and everything up on Facebook.
And if it really is not relevant to FB, then I’ll just remove it from inside FB, but that very rarely happens.
I love the ability to interact more openly and honestly with friends within FB via the comments system, and auto-tweeting updates is way to increase that chatter.
Chinarut : I love the way you are using the two platforms
Alora : My point exactly. Whether it’s personal or business use, if you are going to tie in both platforms and use them simultaneously, you need to be their to see if anyone is trying to get in touch with you. My post was in regards to people who have been importing tweets but failing to realize that they need to get back to Facebook and see if anyone is connecting with them their as well. Many are using Facebook simply to populate their profiles with updates and I for one didn’t add someone on Facebook to see a feedreader
. I want to connect and interact with them.
Alex : Great tip Alex. However, the selective twitter app is pretty simple. You add the application and after that all you do is add #fb to your tweet and it is imported to your Facebook.
In regards what is ok for twitter and what is ok for Facebook is a question of personal preference and the network that is surrounding you on two platforms. For example, if your twitter account is mainly to interact with people you have met online, share links and stuff and your FB account is friends and families, I am not sure if they would be interested. Once again, it all depends. Like I said, I think it all depends on preference, what you are trying to achieve and who belongs to your network.
note: Andy has answered to your question as well in his comment below. Be sure to check it out.
@Bob : Exactly! This way it’s much more easier to manage and connect with people on two different platforms and share views and opinion. Imagine someone tweeting 50 times a day and those 50 updates going on facebook as well. It would be pretty hard to be at both places and when you do it might suck quite a bit of your productive time simply networking which can be quite time consuming.
@Andy : Andy I see your point and I am glad you disagree with me to a certain extent. My post wasn’t targeted towards people like you who use two platforms in moderation and are able to be in both places. Many people don’t. They tweet way too many times and everything is imported to twitter. Most of these tweets are RTs and it can create confusion and can populate your facebook profile way too much. But the post was geared towards those users and not towards users like yourself.
It sucks when people Tweet on Facebook. Tweeting is for Twitter, status updates for FB.
@Ritu (hmm – note how twitter @person convention is moving onto blogs / comments – I’m not sure we can separate different social media platforms so clearly Priya – see http://www.copyblogger.com/blogs-social-media/) – no, that’s fine – I know the post wasn’t directed at me – I think all i meant to get across is that different people use different platforms in different ways for different audiences, and so for some it works well and doesn’t to a large extent confuse or break convention.
Amen to this, Ritu – I just commented about it myself last night (on Twitter only, haha).
My Facebook stream is being clogged with updates that people probably barely realize they’re putting up there, and it’s frustrating.
My opinion is that you should actually be in the space that you’re posting to, and be prepared to interact in that venue. Otherwise it’s mostly just noise.