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Google Plus for 13 Plus

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Is Google Plus no longer for adults?

Welcome the 13 year olds! Google Plus is trying to make themselves more competitive with Facebook. Though the social network is turning out to be more like a Twitter/Facebook hybrid, Facebook is still it’s #1 competitor and Twitter will likely remain a complimentary social network.

Until recently Google+ has been for 18 years and older. But staying and “adult” network was never in their long term plans. They recognize that teenagers are the biggest demographic, especially when it comes to new technology. But it does leave open the question of security.  Right now there is a lot of adult content on Google+…and we are happier for it. The tight laced nature of Facebook gets all of our panties in a bundle. But Google+ has been pleasantly more lenient. Will opening up the network to teenieboppers make them stricter parents? Well, time will tell

They are taking stricter precautions when it comes to who the teens will be able to circle. They are planning to limit it to teenagers only being able to circle other teenagers. Seems like a good start. Now what keeps someone from putting up a fake profile (ahem..remember Myspace)? Well, nothing that we can tell. But it is likely that they will have learned from their irrelevant social network pal (Myspace), that you do need some safeguards.

Opening up the social network will be beneficial as it will bring a wider audience to the network. Many people adopt a network after their kid have played around on it, look at Facebook. So hopefully this will be a boon for the network and not a big hit for all of us who like to keep the kiddies in the kiddie pool.

How to Link your Facebook to Twitter

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How do you link a Facebook Page to Twitter?  This has been a big question that people ask all the time.  It is called syndication when you post on one source and it shares that same post in multiple locations.

I am going to tell you how to link your Facebook to your Twitter. Then I am going to tell you why you shouldn’t do it.

How to Link your Facebook Page to Twitter

Social Syndication: Linking Facebook to Twitter

First things you need to have are 1. a Facebook account and 2. a Twitter account.

Then go to www.facebook.com/twitter

Click the “Link to Twitter” button next to your fan page and you are done.

You can also choose what content is shared from Facebook to Twitter. For instance you want to share updates but not events, or photos but not links. You can customize your syndication so not everything you post on Facebook is simultaneously posted on Twitter.

Why you should say no to syndication

Facebook and Twitter are two very different social networks. They are used for different purposes, in different ways. They have different audiences and different voices. Many of us in adult avoid Facebook because too many profiles and pages get deleted. But for those of us who do use Facebook we have figured out that the best way to stay on Facebook is to keep our posts clean.  Well, on Twitter we don’t really have to worry about that.  So to say that the audiences are different, and the posts that are acceptable are different is a pretty gross understatement.

  1. Twitter is limited to 140 characters and Facebook is not. So when you post on Facebook, and it is longer than 140 characters, you will get a post on Twitter that will be truncated.. The problem with this is that it becomes obvious that you are posting from another account.
    Facebook post on Facebook

    This is the original Facebook post. It is much longer than what you saw on Twitter. Though this is a good post of Facebook, it was not one written for Twitter.

    Facebook post on Twitter

    This is a tweeted posted by Facebook. You can see that the majority of the update has been cut off and a link has been given for you to be able to read the entire post.

  2. Truncated posts. The problem with having a truncated post is that your tweet is being cut off mid thought or sentence. If the person is interested in reading the rest they will have to click the link and go to another platform to read the rest of the post. Though the pornsters on Twitter are use to clicking links, they will not be as thrilled to click a link that takes them to a post that has been made Facebook acceptable.
  3. Phoning in your Social Media. No one likes to think that your social media account is not actually you. They want your Twitter to be you tweeting and know that you are there to respond to them if they interact with you. A post coming from Facebook demonstrates that you are not interested in being on this social platform and that you just want to get your information out to the world.
  4. Duplicate Posts. If you are posting the same thing on both the social networks, the part of your audience that does follow you on both will be bored. The audience that is looking into your and checking out your two profiles will see that they are the same and not find any reason to follow both.

The Hazards of Half-Assed

Shakespeare on the computer saying "To Blog or not to Blog"

Are you half-assing your social media?

There are two sides to social media. You have the people who jump in and get super excited and create accounts on every social network they can find.  Then they realize that they completely over committed and get overwhelmed.  The other side is the people who half-ass their social media. They know they should be involved, but they don’t really want to be. So they set up their accounts, make a couple of posts and then hop on every few weeks to post something new.

The problem with both sides of is that there is no strategy, no consistency.

The Hazards of Half-Assed:

  • Customers try to talk to you but no one is there to listen.
  • You receive negative feedback and are not aware of it.
  • You look unprofessional because you did not put any effort into your profile.
  • There is misinformation on the wall or profile.
  • Your page is being used as a posting board for spam.
  • No strategy, and you probably don’t think you need one.

The Hazards of Assed:

  • Over committed and overwhelmed
  • Too many accounts to actually engage
  • No consistency in posting
  • No strategy, your efforts are all at once instead of thoughtful and targeted
  • You have too many accounts to monitor the real activity
  • You are not connecting with people that matter, because you are trying to connect with everyone.

It can be worse to do your social media halfway then to not do it at all. As the movie The Social Network proposes, the Internet is written in ink.  Anything that is said, whether you say it or someone says it about you, once it is out there it is out there permanently. Now think about that in terms of your neglected social media account. What if someone is questioning your business practices, or saying bad things about you? You want the opportunity to respond.

Ultimately you need to embrace social media and you need to do it with sincerity and honesty.

So don’t be an ass. Meet your audience. Join the conversation – don’t let it happen without you. And make sure that you do it with intention and consistency. Don’t just jump in, create a plan.

Let us know if you need help with your plan.