AALLMarch2014:1 2/14/14 8:57 AM Page 14 Tweeted Out Management tools to prevent social media from monopolizing your time By Ashley Ames Ahlbrand nyone in charge of monitoring management tools include the social media accounts for their ability to schedule posts in A workplace can attest to what a advance; the ability to auto- time-consuming task this can be. schedule posts, allowing the Although managing social media seems social media management tool quick and easy—a simple browse of a to choose the best time to post newsfeed, a quick 140-character message in order to reach the broadest now and then—monitoring more than audience; and the ability to one type of social media, or even using monitor and post to multiple platforms and/or multiple one platform diligently, can easily Image courtesy of Crystal Gibson. consume a large chunk of one’s day. This accounts within the same is due in large part to the rapidly platform all at once. Here are changing format that social media boasts; some of the more prevalent social media having to go to multiple websites. rather than dealing with a static webpage, management tools. Further, if you have multiple accounts the content in any social media platform within one platform—for instance, is constantly changing, and, if you are not Hootsuite several Twitter accounts for your watching it 24/7, you are bound to miss organization—you can create tabs for Hootsuite (www.hootsuite.com) is each of those accounts so that you can something. This article will highlight arguably one of the most popular social several prominent social media avoid having to continually log in and media management tools, allowing you out of Twitter to update each account. management tools that can help you stay to schedule posts in advance and on top of your library’s social media Further, within one tab on providing an auto-schedule feature to Hootsuite, you can create several accounts without becoming overwhelmed. help you post at the optimal time of day. What are the advantages of social “streams” of content, allowing you to In addition, it offers an easy view of organize the activity in any social media media management tools? As can be multiple social media accounts, accessible expected, each tool discussed here comes platform. For instance, if you have from individual tabs within the same created a Twitter list to group the Twitter with its own particular features, but window. The tabs allow you to navigate common features of social media accounts at your institution, Hootsuite between social media accounts without allows you to see tweets from those accounts alone as a separate stream, viewable alongside your general Twitter feed; this can help you avoid missing important tweets from those accounts. You might also create a stream that shows your tweets that have been retweeted or any mentions that your account has received from other Twitter accounts, which can help you measure your social media impact. I use Hootsuite to manage my library’s Twitter account (@IUMaurer LawLib), and I have been very satisfied with it. By creating streams based on law school Twitter accounts, legal research- focused Twitter accounts, and our retweeted tweets and mentions, I am able www.hootsuite.com to effortlessly keep tabs on the Twitter 14 AALL Spectrum I March 2014 © 2014 Ashley Ames Ahlbrand AALLMarch2014:1 2/14/14 8:57 AM Page 15 activity most important to us. I can also (tweetdeck.twitter.com) allows you to easily post content found through these use this tool to send messages out to monitor and manage multiple Twitter services to your social media accounts. both our Twitter and Facebook accounts feeds, schedule tweets in advance, and Social Media Integration: Twitter, simultaneously; I have found that our create alerts about new tweets. What’s Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, App.net followers differ greatly between these two more, you can create multiple lists and App: Available for iPhone and platforms (more students on Facebook, streams to follow based on specific Android more professionals on Twitter), so searches, hashtags, or accounts; similar Cost: The free plan is one account Hootsuite helps us reach a broader to Hootsuite, you can arrange these as for each social media profile; or upgrade audience with ease. This came in side-by-side columns for easier to the “Awesome” plan for $10 per handy earlier this semester when we monitoring. TweetDeck even gives you month. There are also business and encountered a power outage on the the option to “mute” specific users or agency plans that range from $50 to weekend, and we needed to get out the terms to avoid the noise that is so often $250 per month. message that the library was closing early. associated with Twitter feeds. This tool No power meant no email, but my also offers you customization options to Postling colleague on duty was able to text me change the appearance of your account, Postling (www.postling.com) offers the message so that I could pass it along such as changing the traditional white many of the same features we have via Hootsuite. Could we catch everyone background to a black background, to already seen—scheduling posts in this way? No—but it was definitely a suit your aesthetic. Because it is owned advance, monitoring specific feeds, an convenient start. by Twitter, you do not have to create a integrated inbox for all of your social Social Media Integration: Twitter, separate account to use TweetDeck—just media contact, analytics, etc.—but it also Facebook, LinkedIn, Foursquare, sign up with your Twitter handle. offers some enhancements, including Google+, WordPress, and mixi; the App Social Media Integration: It’s gone daily morning emails of your recent Directory allows you to integrate even through the ringer, but, as of May 2013, social media activity, email alerts of social more content from other digital sources, TweetDeck is back to supporting Twitter media interaction, and the ability to from Gmail to YouTube, for varying exclusively. connect multiple users to share social monthly fees. App: No longer available—just media management responsibilities. App: Available for iPhone, iPad, web/desktop platforms Postling also offers the widest array of and Android devices (free) Cost: Free social media interaction across a variety Cost: There are three available of social media and blogging platforms. In addition, Postling was recently purchased by LocalVox, and with that came added tools to help manage your social reputation, such as consultation on how to boost your Facebook following. Social Media Integration: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Wordpress, Blogger, Typepad, Tumblr, Squarespace, Drupal, YouTube, Flickr, Bitly, Yelp, and CitySearch App: The website claims to have an app for the iPhone, but I was unable to locate it. Cost: 30-day trial for $1; $10 per month for up to five social media accounts; an additional $3 per month for each additional social media account SocialOomph Another productivity booster, SocialOomph (www.socialoomph.com) works with a variety of social media platforms. In addition to being able to schedule tweets in advance, tweetdeck.twitter.com SocialOomph allows you to save drafts of tweets to use or reuse later, purge your Hootsuite plans: the Free plan allows you account to start fresh without losing your to add up to five social profiles; the Pro Buffer network of followers and accounts you plan starts at $9.99 per month, with up to Like the other management tools follow, and “self-destruct” your earlier 100 social profiles, more advanced discussed in this article, the major feature tweets to eliminate confusion with old analytics, and the ability to add team of Buffer (bufferapp.com) is the ability information. However, the free account members to your social management to draft posts in advance, keeping your allows you only Twitter management— strategy; and the Enterprise plan (price social media accounts active all day on up to five Twitter accounts. For varies) allows you unlimited social without requiring your constant Facebook and LinkedIn management, profiles, up to 500,000 team members, attention. Its analytics include tracking you must pay for the Professional and a score of other advanced features, your top posts and your visibility package. For many of the enhancements, such as a dedicated account representative. potential to help you maximize your such as the “self-destructing” (time- social media impact. Finally, Buffer limited) and recurring updates for TweetDeck emphasizes its compatibility with several Facebook and Twitter, the professional popular content aggregating apps, such account is also required. SocialOomph is Owned by Twitter, TweetDeck as Feedly and Pocket, allowing you to the only tool featured in this article that AALL Spectrum I March 2014 15 AALLMarch2014:1 2/14/14 8:57 AM Page 16 allows you to interact not only with or upload social media photos to your backup” to help you archive social Facebook business pages and feeds but cloud storage, this might be the right tool media content. also with Facebook Groups. for you. But if you also want to be able to • SumAll (sumall.com) Social Media Integration: Twitter, see your lists of Twitter accounts side by • Google Analytics (www.google.com/ Facebook, LinkedIn, Plurk, App.net, side in a more organized fashion or enjoy analytics): We are all familiar enough RSS feeds the benefit of a service that can schedule with Google Analytics to know that it App: No your posts for optimal times of the day, is about much more than social media, Cost: Limited free account; full IFTTT is not the tool for you. but one aspect of the Google Analytics Professional account is $17.97 every Social Media Integration: 75 package is Social Analytics to measure two weeks; the Twitter unlimited different “channels” covering the various the impact of social media on your account is $6.97 every two weeks.