Think Before You Engage: 100 Questions to Ask Before Starting a Social Media Marketing Campaign

57. Should I Link My Facebook and Twitter Accounts?

Facebook allows users to automatically push Facebook Page updates to Twitter. This practice is commonly debated, because automation can sometimes curb actual conversation. Also, Facebook allows much more content than Twitter in a given update and will often get cut off on Twitter.

When deciding whether or not to automate your Facebook feed to Twitter, consider what benefits will arise from this practice. One immediate benefit that is often enticing enough to convince users to link the two accounts is that it will help to reduce the amount of time you need to set aside for pushing content out. However, you still have to check both accounts to see if anyone has responded.

The problem with linking the two accounts is that the typical user on Twitter is often very different from the typical Facebooker. Twitter users are accustomed to rapid updates in short bursts of activity. Facebook users tend to converse more and have longer comments or questions. Because of this difference in content expectation, it's usually better to have different types of content for your varying audiences.

An easy way to deal with content control and time management is to use a third-party updating service that allows you to use multiple accounts within their service. Web-based tools like Hootsuite.com, or desktop applications like Seesmic or Tweetdeck, allow ...