3 Reasons NOT to Link Your Social Media Accounts
The internet operates with more social media sites than most people could probably identify. Many of these, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube have the ability to “link” so that anything that you post to one, will also post to the others.
But – that can land you in some trouble. Seriously. I mean, imagine what people would think if you were a South Carolina governor who tweeted this:
“South Carolina made history this year by passing education reform. We will no longer educate children…“
Oh wait – someone did that recently.
If that’s not enough, here are some other reasons to keep your social media accounts separate:
Social Media Sites are Different for a Reason
Facebook is a place to live online. Twitter is a place to get into terse discussion. Youtube is for videos (usually funny) and Instagram is all about photos. These definitions are extremely crass and limiting, and the definitions probably warrant an entire series of posts.
That being said, different sites function differently – so why would you assume that a tweet would work as a Facebook post? Why would an Instagram photo necessarily work on Twitter? Just because two sites are described as “social media” doesn’t make them equal.
Facebook, Twitter, etc. Have Different “Rules”
Some people don’t know this, so just let me point out that Twitter only allows you to use 140 characters in a single tweet. So, when you post something like this to Instagram:
“South Carolina made history this year by passing education reform. We will no longer educate children based on where they are born. Through reading coaches, technology investments, and expanding charter schools we just confirmed that we want our children to be the future workforce for our growing high tech jobs! #ItIsAGreatDayInSC”
It comes out like this on Twitter (with a link to the Instagram post):
“South Carolina made history this year by passing education reform. We will no longer educate children…“
That’s some pretty solid education reform. I’d retweet that.
Your Twitter Followers Might Differ from your Facebook Fans
Some people who tweet don’t like Facebook. Some people who Instagram don’t Youtube. This comes out of the fact that different social media sites offer different sorts of content which might appeal to different sorts of people. So, even if an entire Facebook status fits into a tweet, the different followers might not respond the same way. Similarly, you might want to avoid posting some random cat meme to LinkedIn, even though it seems to get a response on Facebook.
In other words, you have to cater content to the platform. Practically, this makes sense because you might want to use more than 140 characters in a Facebook status. Additionally, it makes sense because Twitter users like different sorts of content than users on other platforms.
Tags: Social Media