(One concern I hear a lot of is “How do we find time for this social media stuff? We don’t have a full staff anymore and we’re already going nuts trying to do the things we have to do!” There’s not a single, good answer that fits every library. But, for those that have prioritized their social media efforts and recognize them as being crucial, there are at least some tools to help maximize their efforts. Here’s one, the second in a series.)
Let’s be honest: it’s a major pain in the rear to login to multiple, different social media services every time you want to make a post. I often used to think, “It takes more time to login to Twitter than it does to make a 140-character status update!” (At least it seemed that way to me.) If your library maintains more than one profile in social media, then you’re probably keenly aware of how annoying this is–particularly if you want to make the same posting in two different places.
There are now tools that can take a great deal of pain out of maintaining multiple social media accounts. One of these (and my personal favorite) is Tweetdeck. This is a piece of desktop software (although it also has versions for the iPhone and iPad) that you install, and it functions as a master dashboard for all of your social media accounts. Through Tweetdeck, I personally manage 5 different Twitter accounts, my Facebook account and my LinkedIn account with this tool. A library could easily manage both its Twitter and Facebook accounts. Tweetdeck also supports MySpace, Google Buzz and Foursquare.
Tweetdeck has a very long list of features, and is always adding more. They recently added the ability to post in the future (much like Twuffer) and to view YouTube videos directly inside Tweetdeck.
What does this mean to me, Laura?
- Other great features include the ability to auto-shorten long URLs and to add columns to monitor keywords or hastags. Want to keep up with #saveohiolibraries? Tweetdeck can do that for you. Same for any search for any keyword/hashtag. Monitor multiple search terms.
- If your library maintains more than one Twitter account (e.g., one main one and one for local history information), then this tool is going to save you a lot of time and effort.
- If your library wants to post the same message to Twitter and also to Facebook and/or MySpace, Tweetdeck allows you to do this easily. Just type in your status message, and then click the buttons for those accounts, then submit. Done.
- Tweetdeck is available for Windows, Mac and Linux machines. (Note that you will need Adobe Air to run it.)
Do you use Tweetdeck? Or another multi-account management tool? What do you think?
