LinkedIn / Twitter / Facebook Status updates explained

When I meet with clients I often get questions about how to properly leverage the status update functions on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.  The truth is that the three platforms are different, but do have similarities.  The important thing is to get the most impact out of each platform.

LinkedIn Status

A common debate in the social media sphere is weather or not to integrate your LinkedIn status with your Facebook and Twitter updates.  I think most experts would agree that this is not a good practice.  A great post at Integrated Alliances states…

LinkedIn statusing  is best for activities that have a 1 week to 1 month horizon.  It is not a real time statusing system.

I agree with this.  My rule of thumb is that if it’s worth sending out an email blast for an event or online article, then it would be a good idea to have this as your LinkedIn status.

If you’re interested in using LinkedIn in tandem with your other accounts (despite my advice ) then the way I would do it is through a service like Ping.fm or Hellotxt.com.  These services allow you to syndicate updates to a wide variety of services.

Twitter and Facebook

Right now I forward all my Twitter updates to my Facebook page (using the twitter app for facebook).  I know this is a bit controversial.  The main reason is that the language used on Twitter is often riddled with weird symbols, hashtags, RT’s, @ replies, etc. due to the 140 character restriction on Twitter.

For example, one of my recent tweets was met with confusion on Facebook…

nighttime #followfriday @edeckers @kyleplacy @jebbanner @serinakelley @lindsaymanfredi @lturnermolaski @drthomasho What up peeps!!

One of the biggest reasons I will continue to use this strategy is that I get a lot of traffic and visibility from using this approach.  I think this kind of integration is also a good thing, because it exposes the Facebook crowd to some of the interesting stuff that’s happening on Twitter.

Listening on Facebook and Twitter

The great thing about social media is that it is a 2-way medium (as opposed to TV or Radio which is 1-way).  With most social media tools you can not only broadcast, but also listen.  Here’s how I use Facebook and Twitter as listening devices.

Listening on Twitter

1. Using a tool like Tweetdeck, I can set up a running search for key topics that apply to me.  Any time someone mentions the specified topic, it shows up in a stream.
2. I have separate groups set up in Tweetdeck that serve specific functions.  I have a group for local Tweeters and friends that I want to follow outside of my main feed.  I also have a separate column for industry experts and thought leaders that keep me updated on the latest trends.
3. Twitter also recently released a ‘group’ function which allows groups of people to stay connected.  We’ll see this become even more important over the coming months.

Listening on Facebook

I listen a bit differently on Facebook.  On Facebook I typically sign in a few times a day and look through the stream ‘liking’ things that I like and ‘commenting’ on things when I have something to add.

Some people think that ‘liking’ and commenting on Facebook is superficial, but I disagree.  The way I look at it, anyone could potentially refer me business at any time as long as I’m at the top of their mind.  I find that this strategy is a great way to accomplish this.

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