Maria Reyes McDavis – @websuccessdiva
started using the publish sync extension! Visit: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/sync
I favorited Maria’s tweet over at Twitter a few days ago as a way of bookmarking it. Today I finally got back to it and I’ve decided to play with this a bit. I’m going to cross-post Twitter to Google+ and Facebook to Google+, mainly out of curiosity.
The Publish Sync chrome extension does exactly what it advertises. It enables the web versions of Google+, Twitter and Facebook (and Plurk for those who still use it) to selectively cross-post to each other.
I’m not a fan of fully automated cross-posting. As I’ve mentioned before, Twitter dominates my Linked stream to such an extent that it makes me wonder if anyone is listening on Linkedin. And posts on Facebook that contain @mentions from Twitter always leave me scratching my head a bit. But I do like the idea of being able to selectively cross-post in a very simple and intuitive way.
This is, of course, not the first service to do this. However, the use of check boxes just below the status update window at Twitter, Facebook and Google+ make Publish Sync easier to use than other services that require, for example, the use of a special hashtag #fb to cross-post to Facebook.
At least this way users can use some judgement about whether a specific post might have value to the people who follow them on another network, being sensitive to the fact that people socialize on each service differently and that there are different community “rules” that should be taken into consideration. I expect this capability to make it’s way into apps like Tweetbot, Hootsuite and Tweetdeck soon enough.
What’s your stand on cross-posting, automated, selective or otherwise?
I think if used selectively and with moderation cross posting can be a good thing. I feel the same way as you’ve described when I see updates in some networks where the update doesn’t seem to make much sense. Like mentions on Facebook, or full names on twitter.
I’ve been playing with the multiple network update feature on Tweetdeck and other tools but haven’t tried the plugin for chrome yet.
cross posting feels like broadcasting, which isn’t the same as having a conversation or listening to one. I do some cross posting but not much.
T, unless I’m prepared to have a conversation in both places, I ain’t gonna do it. Selective is the only way that makes sense to me and then sparingly. But that’s my opinion… I’m certainly not the arbiter of right and wrong on this or any topic.
And Oscar, we share the same aversion to the contextually inappropriate name references.
Twitter doesn’t play nice with linkedin. you can set your linkedin account to only post when #in is used as a hashtag. I use the linkedin feed the most, I hide tweets because I only want to read linkedin status updates, which is unfair to many users because linked in doesn’t allow you to just hide tweets but still get linkedin status updates from that user. It’s all or nothing.
as far as social sharing, I think you have to share across as many networks as possible. The problem is the automated tools don’t give a lot of options for the posts. That’s why you should probably either get a custom built syndication tool or spend the extra time making sure each network has a high quality post
Thanks, Matt. I’m curious… what is GuestBlogNet.com?
I try not to cross post too much, but I do it. Not only cross platform, but cross user/identity. With the advent of the business page, I found I was posting the same things to several FB pages and my profile all at once. Didn’t make sense. I still haven’t perfected it, but I now try to divide it up by time or even day (if it makes sense to post it from more than one place).
The names don’t bother me much, but that’s probably because I read @respres the same as I would Jeff Turner – they’re one and the same in my mind.
Mate, I’m really struggling to deliver value to each of the channels that I use at the moment and I’m a big fan of either delivering value, or staying away. Adding value to those at Google+ is the next challenge.
The cross posting concept doesn’t sit that well with me (yes I do it from Twitter to Linkedin now) but being VERY selective about it is an option I think I’m going to explore. I’ve grabbed the Chrome plugin.
The bigger challenge is probably getting my Google Circles and Facebook lists set up correctly. I’ll come back for guidance once I get the big rocks in place.
Warning: this extension saves you’re last settings on any of the networks. So, if you’re last setting is to send a tweet to Google+, it saves that as the default… even if you’re in a direct message window. I just sent a DM to Google+. 🙂
I use tools like this to share resources and have conversations on each platform 🙂 There is a difference in the reason for every tool we use and I think moderation and value to followers should be the most important consideration–not whether we’re following a “best practice” deemed as necessary.
For me, value is in the eye of the beholder. Part of my @WebSuccessDiva brand is sharing resources. On the flip side, I have other brands under my umbrella where tools like this are not useful, but harmful.
I think as marketers, the more “walls” of do’s and don’ts we set on ourselves, rather than doing things for the value it brings our unique audiences, the more opportunities we miss to be valuable.
And, for the record, I try everything, so that I can bring the scoop to my readers 😉
Great discussion!
Thanks for stopping by and joining the discussion, Maria. Your take on this is right in line with how I judge my use of any tool. The focus of everything needs to be, “does it provide value to my audience.” If it doesn’t, then don’t do it. If it does, then do it and don’t worry about what the social media throng thinks is or is not appropriate.
Cross posting definitely has its place. I have different networks on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+. There is some overlap of course but there are many people with whom I am connected on one network but not the other.
There’s also the question of timing. All of these tools use a stream and people’s networks vary in size and activity. That means the post might be missed by a person on Twitter but noticed on Facebook.
As you mentioned, there is the broadcast use case of cross posting. If I want to maximize viewership of a message you bet I’m cross posting to maximize my audience.
Lastly, I often look to spur conversation. Posting a conversation starter to multiple places can ensure I get a response.
I agree that not all messages should be cross posted but there are some times when it is a good idea.
Mike, thanks for the thoughtful response. I agree that it has it’s place, though I wish people were using the heavy automation tools with a bit more judgment. A more selective approach would appear to have a greater return, relative to engagement. And the recent studies on Facebook indicate that FB is penalizing posts coming from third party apps. So, manually cross-posting to FB seems to be the right way to proceed in those cases where you are looking for maximum exposure.