Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work

By Rachel Thompson | Blog

Jan 31

People who only live tweet are steadfast that the Twitter Police will arrest you if you don’t only interact live.

Okay, kidding…kinda. Yet many of these people are quite zealous in preaching to people that if they schedule in ANYTHING AT ALL, they are DOING IT WRONG. I disagree and here’s why: live tweet or not

 

As someone who makes a living helping people learn how to do social media and book marketing (in additional to writing and publishing my own books), I spend a good majority of my day on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Goodreads, LinkedIn, and Pinterest for both personal and business reasons. Therefore, it’s important that I learned early on how to manage my time best for my clients, so I’d still have time to write, be a mom, and ya know, eat Nutella.

There’s been a debate on Twitter and Facebook for years about what’s ‘better:’ live interaction only, live interaction combined with some scheduling, or scheduling only. Some people (who will most likely respond in comments here), will scold someone for scheduling, as if it’s the eighth deadly sin.

I’m personally a fan of the middle option and I’ll explain why below. Let’s now, however, deconstruct the pros and cons of all three options.

 

LIVE INTERACTION ONLY

Pros: One the advantages of only live tweeting (or FBing, or any live-ing thing) is that you can be involved in conversations as they happen. Breaking news, popular trending topics, etc. Totally true. In addition, Twitter is the great equalizer. You can speak with anyone, from writers to musicians to celebs to politicians (if that’s your thing) as you see interesting things in your feed. You can also thank people for sharing your tweet or FB message as they do it. Also, if you’re at an event, live tweeting is essential and fun to help spread the word and connect with others. 

Cons: In my experience, if you only live tweet, it’s hard to be ‘on’ all the time. Most people don’t have the time to stay on Twitter (or Facebook) full time so you miss a lot (unless you go back through and search for something specific to comment on). People also miss what you have to say.

Also, if someone comes to your stream (or page) and sees a bunch of ‘Thank you for the RT’ tweets, it’s boring. They have no real idea if you’re cool, interesting, or what. That’s why I use Pluggio to spread them out.

I also find that using something to schedule in tweets/shares, etc (I prefer Hootsuite) helps me address a number of my keywords and topics and spread them out also. Sure, I’ll go on a Nutella riff, but that’s not ALL I want to talk about (okay, it is but you know. Girl’s gotta make a living.).

 

 

COMBINATION OF LIVE TWEETING AND SCHEDULING 

Pros: You can better manage not only your time but also your followers. If you spread your tweets out throughout the day, people can check in when it’s convenient for them, and you can schedule in posts that tie to your interests. I find planning ahead to do things like: share fellow writers’ posts, memes (like #MondayBlogs, #WW or #FF), and promotional events work better when I’ve scheduled in the posts. Then I can live tweet any responses.

Cons: If you schedule in articles or current event tweets, you can be easily burned when something happens and your scheduled tweet is inappropriate (this has happened frequently this past year with some large companies who should know better). This is why I only schedule a day or so ahead of time, and I choose topics that aren’t dependent on the current social climate (that I save for live tweets).

 

SCHEDULING ONLY 

Pros: You set and forget, which makes it easy to focus on other things, like making money, family, cleaning your house, making your martini…whatever.

Cons: Fairly obvious, as mentioned above. I’ve struggled with scheduling in pertinent articles (no more than one every 4 hours), because once you set it and forget it, you realize that many of these articles have quickly become dated (for example, I scheduled in a bunch of Twitter articles over the holidays, and some are just surfacing now, which is embarrassing). Clearly, a mistake on my part and something I’m much more on top of now.

Also, you can come across as quite robot-like, which is diametrically opposed to the concept of ‘social’ media, since many of these tweets contain links. (According to Twitter’s spam guidelines, tweets should consist primarily of personal updates, not link after link after link.)

 

Listen, here’s what I love the most about Twitter (or any social media platform): you curate it for what works best for you. If you’re not getting the results you want, change it up. Read some stuff. Learn. Nobody has a right to tell you what to do (unless you’re doing something that is against guidelines like putting a link in every tweet or spamming your wall with coupons and such). I encourage you to look closely at what you share, pay attention to the ‘rules’ provided by each channel, and figure out what works for you.

 

I’d love your feedback and opinions on this controversial subject below.

 

If you want to follow me on my author website, go to RachelintheOC.com for my latest blog posts, book info, and guest posts by some fabulous author friends. If you haven’t yet, please check out my third release, Broken Pieces, on Amazon (no Kindle required — they have free apps). Out less than six weeks, it’s received over 38 5-star reviews. 

‘Broken Pieces left me in tears. It left me raw – the wounds still chafe, but it left me astounded at the courage Rachel Thompson had shown in writing this book, in breaking taboos, in speaking out and in refusing to use her pain and hurt as excuses to hide behind for the rest of her life.

This is a book about rising above; about becoming more than you can possibly believe you ever will be at those terribly low points of your life. It is about surviving, thriving and living and I recommend it more than any other book I have read.’ ~ from Tracy Riva, Top Amazon Reviewer. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Related articles
Share
Tweet
Share
Share
Follow

About the Author

Rachel Thompson is the author of newly released BadRedhead Media 30-Day Book Marketing Challenge: How to energize your book sales in a month - created to help authors market their book. She is also the author of Broken Places (one of IndieReader's "Best of 2015" top books and 2015 Honorable Mention Winner in the San Francisco Book Festival), and the multi award-winning Broken Pieces, as well as two additional humor books, A Walk In The Snark and Mancode: Exposed. She owns BadRedhead Media, creating effective social media and book marketing campaigns for authors. Her articles appear regularly in The Huffington Post,  IndieReader.com, The San Francisco Book Review (BadRedhead Says…), 12Most.com, BookPromotion.com, and Self-Publishers Monthly. Not just an advocate for sexual abuse survivors, Rachel is the creator and founder of the hashtag phenomenon #MondayBlogs and two live Twitter chats: #BookMarketingChat (co-hosted with TheRuralVA, Emilie Rabitoy) and #SexAbuseChat, co-hosted with C. Streetlights and Judith Staff. She hates walks in the rain, running out of coffee, and coconut. She lives in California with her family.

Related Posts

Seven Reasons You Need To Hire an Author Assistant Right Now by guest @TheRuralVA

How to Create Pre-Launch Buzz for Your Book Right Now

This is the Reason Content Marketing for Writers Matters

The Reasons Branding Confuses You and How To Fix That Right Now

Leave a Comment:

(69) comments

Rachel Thompson (@BadRedheadMedia) January 31, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/JpHW8AtT via @BadRedheadMedia Plz read FIRST.

Reply
Rachel Thompson (@RachelintheOC) January 31, 2013

Why Live-Only Tweeting Doesn’t Work http://t.co/BeSjfehb via @BadRedheadMedia Please read first, then respond. thx!

Reply
Sandy Sandmeyer (@SandySandmeyer) January 31, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/Qg3A7eJA via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
Toby Neal (@tobywneal) January 31, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/p917R1Ce via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
Cassandra Page (@CassandraPage01) January 31, 2013

One for my #writer tweeps! RT @BadRedheadMedia: Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/7Lsvtz4T

Reply
@rebeccatdickson January 31, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/Fdhh2qIH via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
Maryellen Brady (@me_brady) January 31, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/SzyOXpYI via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
Julia R Barrett (@JuliaRBarrett) January 31, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/lcrJzLKl via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
Wendy (@wendybooks1) January 31, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/ABxLo7Oa via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
Benjamin Wallace (@BenMWallace) January 31, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/B1zG5til via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
Justin Bogdanovitch (@JustinBog) January 31, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/morpwWya via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
@LeslieAnneliese January 31, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/WiZJVxuV via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
MAJK (@Safireblade) February 1, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/hfyI0wuZ via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
Randy Bowden (@bowden2bowden) February 1, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/wGImoSLd via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
Lori Ruff (@loriruff) February 1, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/edihPDY0 via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
Daniel Sharkov (@DanielSharkov) February 1, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/zk91BhYo via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
Tony Restell (@tonyrestell) February 1, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/frwcVfT7 via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
A.R.Karthick (@arkarthick) February 1, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on #SocialMedia Doesn’t Work http://t.co/f5eNThHI | via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
Melissa McPhail (@melissagmcphail) February 1, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Twitter Doesn’t Work http://t.co/DpRFJ3KJ Helpful article for navigating the twitterverse via @badredheadmedia

Reply
Amit Verma (@AmitV_Tweets) February 1, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/LLxXsop3 via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
Rachel Thompson (@BadRedheadMedia) February 1, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/lK7i9XQQ by @BadRedheadMedia What do YOU think? #sm

Reply
Becky Gaylord (@BeckyGaylord) February 1, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/6ZN5zRDe via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
@SocialMTips February 1, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/BRBnBlDg via @badredheadmedia

Reply
Michelle Mangen (@mmangen) February 1, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/yMNKbCgc via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
Janna Shay (@JannaShay) February 1, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/InHqDaWV via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
Ross Quintana (@Ross_Quintana) February 1, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work #SM http://t.co/u3bwoHgk via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
Dianne Solberg (@Wxmouse) February 2, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/u8wb0D5h via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
@the_HoliDaze February 2, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/NjKAQGRh via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
Rachel Thompson (@RachelintheOC) February 2, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/JHSSWr60 by @BadRedheadMedia What do YOU think? #sm

Reply
Eden Baylee (@edenbaylee) February 2, 2013

@zkatzstein Read this post and follow @BadRedheadMedia = she’s excellent for all SM stuff http://t.co/Rw0jsXm2

Reply
Kim Lavigne (@Freedomwalker77) February 3, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/p2c1Gj1t via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
Claire Jarrett (@clairejarrett) February 3, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/oXrIGt0g via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
iggy pintado (@iggypintado) February 3, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/SCwNRbjQ via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
Joe Prasad (@ThinkNewMedia) February 3, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/LHNpZlXY via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
Leslie Block (@blockmomnc) February 3, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/D4Hi4frK via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
Steve Cassady (@SteveCassady) February 3, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/DZGAxUQf via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
Michele Welch (@Michele_Welch) February 4, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/upMYLHJL via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
@toddbnielsen February 4, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/jxjYcnso via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
Rachel Thompson (@BadRedheadMedia) February 4, 2013

#MondayBlogs Why Live-Only Tweeting Doesn’t Work http://t.co/4G3lDPu4 via @BadRedheadMedia Please read first, then respond. thx!

Reply
RachelintheOC (@BkPromoCentral) February 4, 2013

#MondayBlogs Why Live-Only Tweeting Doesn’t Work http://t.co/cLZ62gHG via @BadRedheadMedia Please read first, then respond. thx!

Reply
@vividsynthesis February 4, 2013

Wise words:#MondayBlogs Why Live-Only Tweeting Doesn’t Work http://t.co/oqA5iPG8 via @BadRedheadMedia Please read first, then respond. Thx!

Reply
Rachel Thompson (@BadRedheadMedia) February 4, 2013

#MondayBlogs Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/IQZwgFwl via @BadRedheadMedia #amreading

Reply
RachelintheOC (@MondayBlogs) February 4, 2013

#MondayBlogs Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/956fdba8 via @BadRedheadMedia #amreading

Reply
Amanda Taylor February 4, 2013

I like to do the combo thing. I come in to check 2-3 times a day to check and post. When I got my smartphone I downloaded a couple apps to respond to DMs, mentions, or PMs. I get on every day and schedule on a daily basis unless I know I am going to be gone a couple days in a internet deadzone I schedule in advance and let people know ahead of time. That’s what seems to work best for me especially since I write and do things outdoors!

Reply
    Rachel Thompson February 4, 2013

    I agree, the combo thing works best. It’s funny when people get mad and bossy about how twitter SHOULD be — it’s a free platform we all use for different reasons. Sure, there are guidelines but still, it works best when we work it how we like.

    thx for the comments, Amanda!

    Reply
Rachel Thompson (@RachelintheOC) February 4, 2013

#MondayBlogs Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/EY9TgvHd by @BadRedheadMedia #sm

Reply
Rachel Thompson (@BadRedheadMedia) February 4, 2013

#MondayBlogs Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/DxeavuTi by @BadRedheadMedia #sm

Reply
Bublish (@BublishMe) February 4, 2013

MT @badredheadmedia: #MondayBlogs Why Live-Only Tweeting Doesn’t Work http://t.co/A8cj0P4l @BadRedheadMedia Pls read 1st, then respond. thx!

Reply
CarolynNicanderMohr (@wonderoftech) February 4, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/RZ3IuciD via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
@MikeRocheAuthor February 4, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/IU6DyJgv

Reply
Rachel Thompson (@RachelintheOC) February 4, 2013

#MondayBlogs To Schedule or Not To Schedule? I say YES: Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/ukrY8PwM

Reply
Jen Brass Jenkins (@chrliechaz) February 4, 2013

Totally agree with this>>Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/0zJ23VYN via @badredheadmedia #MondayBlogs

Reply
TheJackB (@TheJackB) February 4, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/JkjEf7sw via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
Rachel Thompson (@BadRedheadMedia) February 4, 2013

#MondayBlogs To Schedule or Not To Schedule? I say YES: Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/EQd2z2df

Reply
@adriennewarren5 February 4, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/HzsqCeIF via @RachelintheOC

Reply
Louie Baur (@louiebaur) February 5, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/Lhmj1c6L via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
Ryan Casey (@RyanCaseyBooks) February 5, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work via @badredheadmedia – http://t.co/UhXIkmxx

Reply
@lauraacedo February 5, 2013

@Steveology: Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/ZMrc03UZ via @BadRedheadMedia

Reply
10 Things I Wish I Had Known About Being An Author February 6, 2013

[…] « Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work […]

Reply
Rachel Thompson (@RachelintheOC) February 10, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/XNU1SGZy via @BadRedheadMedia #amreading

Reply
@LucindaLitNYC February 12, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/2BtTpHP1 #socialmedia

Reply
IndieBookPromos (@indiebookpromos) February 18, 2013

#MondayBlogs Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/cX4DjH8s aka why the #Twitter police need to calm down

Reply
RachelintheOC (@MondayBlogs) February 18, 2013

#MondayBlogs Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/src8kMjM aka why the #Twitter police need to calm down

Reply
Rachel Thompson (@BadRedheadMedia) February 18, 2013

#MondayBlogs Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work http://t.co/EjbdZbL9 aka why the #Twitter police need to calm down

Reply
@katiiisays March 3, 2013

Why Live-Only Interaction on #SocialMedia Doesn’t Work via @BadRedheadMedia http://t.co/7FQqlPt6l4

Reply
Why Not Blogging Is Stupid by @RachelintheOC aka Rachel Thompson March 9, 2013

[…] Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work […]

Reply
Why I've Sworn Off Nutella (gasp!) March 10, 2013

[…] Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work […]

Reply
How NOT To Sell Your Book On Twitter! March 30, 2013

[…] Social media is for building relationships and connections. It’s a great marketing platform, but […]

Reply
Social Media Offenders: Crime and Punishment by guest Carrie Bailey May 20, 2013

[…] Why Live-Only Interaction on Social Media Doesn’t Work […]

Reply
Add Your Reply

Leave a Comment:

Previous Post 9 Twitter Basics You May Not Know Next Post 10 Things I Wish I Had Known About Being An Author
>