BigBuzzBlog

Why automated tweets aren’t as awful as (some would have) you think.

August 12, 2009 at 2:23 am Leave a comment

Recently, I came across Tweetlater, an app that allows me to schedule tweets to go out when I’m away from my computer or Blackberry (there are others as well such as Tweetadder). I’ve also read lots of tweets about the evils of automating your tweets, mostly focusing on how Twitter is intended to build relationships, assuming you can only build them live.

I’ve found, however, that managing three Twitter accounts can take an awful lot of time, even using an application such as Tweetdeck that allows you to filter out tweeps you want to follow, but who might, shall we say, tweet a tad too much. So I’ve come to embrace scheduled tweeting as a way to be even more engaged. Here’s why.

1. I can’t be as engaged on Twitter if I can’t be on it numerous times throughout the day. By using a scheduler, I can set up two to four tweets each day to cover the times I know I won’t be able to add to the conversation. As long as I’m not spamming with sales pitches, I’m providing useful information that otherwise wouldn’t be available.
2. By scheduling some of my tweets I’m more likely to be better engaged a couple of times a day when I can take 30 minutes or so to read incoming tweets, retweet the interesting ones, clicking through and bookmarking those links I want to spend even more time with later
3. By scheduling tweets, I’m actually refraining from adding to the twutter (my term for Twitter clutter). If I checked in with Twitter every hour or so – as I know many do – I’d end up retweeting so much more, oftentimes things (like @mashable’s tweets) that have already been re-re-tweeted.
4. By stepping away from the twitterverse and focusing on what I do for clients, I’m adding to the conversation by bringing fresh experience to the table. When all I do is stay focused on Twitter, I stay inside its bubble with less chance of bringing a fresh perspective.
5. I’m sharing good information with new tweeps as they follow. If I only send tweets out as I come across information, only those following me at that point in time would benefit. By saving those tweets, I can send them out once a week or so, thus providing useful information to the tweeps who have recently begun following me.

I do follow someone who seems to only send out automated sales tweets, not to mention DMs, which is especially annoying. That is not adding to the conversation. That’s dominating it in the way an egomaniac only talks about himself. Sooner or later the interesting people drift away. But if your automated tweets are limited and focus on sharing interesting information, I think scheduling your tweets will make you far more productive while keeping your followers engaged.

You can follow bigBUZZness on Twitter, @bigbuzzness.

Entry filed under: Apps, Twitter. Tags: social media, Twitter.