Social Networks: How to Integrate Them

This blog post is in response to a question someone at a University asked me:

Question: I have set-up/configured our Facebook, Twitter, and Blog this week. We are in the process of posting content to each, but I was hoping you could go over a few things with me. Mainly, how to integrate the 3 so that we don’t have to constantly update all 3 sites? And also, based on your experience, are there any general settings in each dealing with user interactivity that we should enable/disable?

Answer: I would first start with integrating Twitter into Facebook, instead of the other way around. The reason is because I think students are more familiar with the Facebook interface than Twitter.

How to make your Facebook posts go to Twitter

1. In a browser, log into Twitter.
2. In another tab in the browser, go to Facebook.com/Twitter. You will see your Facebook page and a button that says “Link to Twitter.”
3. Click on the “Link to Twitter” button
4. It’ll take you back to Twitter, prompting “An application would like to connect to your account.”
5. Click on “Allow.”

Image: Step 4 – Prompt to allow Facebook to connect to Twitter

This will connect the two accounts. So when you post something on the Facebook Wall like a status update, link, photo, etc. it will also post to Twitter.

How to Add your Blog RSS feed into Facebook

1. Log into Facebook
2. Go to your Page and click on “Edit Page” in the left navigation
3. Scroll down and look for “Notes”
4. Click on the pencil and then “Edit Application”
5. On the right side, click on “Edit import settings”
6. It will ask you for “Web URL.” Put in the RSS feed address, click on the checkbox, and click on “Start Importing”
7. The next page will ask you to “Confirm import.”

This will import your blog posts into the “Facebook Notes” section.

Interacting with Social Networks
Even though you are integrating all three social networks, you still need to attend to them individually. The audience and culture at each social network is somewhat different. Someone may respond on Twitter, and you won’t see it unless you’re on Twitter and in the conversation. Same with all the other social networks.

Settings for Social Networks
As for the settings that you should enable:

• In Facebook, allow your users to comment on the wall, add links, and photos.
• In the blog, be sure to allow comments in each post.
• On Twitter, go to Settings->Account, be sure to NOT checkmark “Protect my Tweets”

Books and Resources
If you’re interested in learning more about these social networks, I suggest reading some of these books:

• Inside Facebook.com is another great resource.
• Tweeternet – What is Twitter?
• Top 25 Blogs about Blogging