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Inside Facebook

Inside Facebook


How to Sync Your Facebook Page Updates With Twitter — and Why You Shouldn’t

Posted: 14 Jul 2011 08:45 PM PDT

Facebook Marketing Bible

The following is an excerpt. The complete article, available in our Facebook Marketing Bible, includes the full six steps why you shouldn’t syndicate your Page updates to Twitter and should write custom updates for each network instead.

For the busy marketer, syncing the updates from your brand's Facebook Page with your Twitter profile can seem like an easy and convenient way to minimize the time it takes to manage both accounts. However, as we explore below, we recommend you write custom version of your content for Facebook and Twitter, as cross-posting can work against your goals instead of for them.

But first, we’ll cover how Facebook’s official Twitter application allows Facebook Page owners to automatically syndicate their posts to Twitter after installing the app on their Facebook Page.

Link Your Facebook Page To Twitter

To start syncing your Facebook updates to Twitter, simply navigate to www.facebook.com/twitter to add the application, and click the Link a Page to Twitter button.

From there, choose the Page you wish to link to Twitter and click Link to Twitter.

As the Page administrator, you can decide whether to share everything you publish on your Facebook Page with your Twitter followers, or be more selective and choose from Status Updates, Links, Photos, Notes and Events. Status updates and links work best as these types of content can be consumed via Twitter without users having to return to Facebook.

If you have multiple Pages, you can also link each of those Pages to different Twitter accounts.

Updates are posted to Twitter with a shortened URL from bit.ly.

6 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Do This

Syncing up your brand's Twitter profile with your Facebook Page seems like a smart idea, but it's not something that we would recommend for a number of reasons.

  1. Twitter Isn't Facebook – They're very different social platforms with different communities, expectations and norms. You won’t get as many clicks or as many people following your calls to action unless you write for your network-specific audience.

The full version of this article, which covers all six reasons why you should write custom updates for each network instead of cross-posting, can be found in the Facebook Marketing Bible, Inside Network's complete guide to marketing, advertising, and ecommerce on Facebook.

Spotify Launches in the US With Facebook Connect but No Deeper Integration Yet

Posted: 14 Jul 2011 01:31 PM PDT

After years of anticipation, this morning the Spotify music streaming service launched in the United States with support of all the major record labels. The launch is the continuation of a partnership between Spotify and Facebook that could evolve into a special integration including prominent placement on Facebook. This alliance has the potential to threaten Apple, which chose to partner with Twitter for social integrations in iTunes Ping and iOS 5.

For now, the Spotify-Facebook experience is limited to the use of Connect in the Spotify desktop client. This allows one to import their friend list so they can listen to music from the playlists of friends, and to easily share songs to Facebook.

The current Facebook Connect integration should help Spotify ramp up traction in the United States, and doesn’t raise any privacy concerns. Beyond the iTunes rivalry, a deeper Facebook integration could help Spotify become a serious competitor to other established music services such as Pandora, Amazon, and Rhapsody.

Spotify is now distributing invites to its free service to pre-registered users and honoring invites already passed to users by friends from abroad. Soon, anyone in the US will be able to stream music for 10 hours through the free but ad-supported Spotify Open service. US users can get immediate access by paying $4.99 a month for Spotify Unlimited which has no listening cap or ads, or $9.99 for Spotify Premium which also includes access from mobile devices and enhanced sound quality.

Spotify has also partnered with Klout to give the influence scoring service’s users Spotify invites. However, the overwhelming demand crashed Klout and it has run out of invites, but will distribute more tomorrow.

As we’ll describe below, US users can now listen to the music of their friends and share links to songs to the news feed. Spotify properly protects user privacy by not publishing a user’s playlists without permission. Those in the US will also now be able to use Facebook apps such as branded promotions that are powered by Spotify. Users will not see a bookmark to Spotify in the Facebook navigation menu, or be able to simultaneously listen to a song with friends — two features that could be released in the future as either a special integration or as part of Facebook’s Music Dashboard.

Social Music Discovery With Respect for Privacy

Once users have downloaded and launched the desktop client, they’ll see a big “Connect to Facebook” prompt on the right side of the music player which tempts users to “Discover what your friends are listening to”. Facebook is Spotify’s premiere social partner, powering identity and interconnection between users. A Twitter integration is present, but merely allows users to launch a tweet composer in their browser to share songs. This draws some battle lines, as Apple has chosen Twitter to power single-sign on and quick sharing in iOS 5 as well as it’s in-app social network Ping.

If users click through the Facebook Connect button and grant the app extended permissions, they’re informed that upon completing the connection, their playlists will be shared publicly. However, in a smart privacy move, users are given a chance to first edit their privacy settings and select to hide the playlists they created in Spotify or that have been automatically imported from iTunes. Users can also choose whether newly created or imported playlists will be visible by default.

As some users might have playlists with sensitive names or content, such as ones dedicated to friends or romantic partners, it’s important that Spotify provides the option to hide playlists before they’ve ever published.

Once users finish the Facebook Connect proces, they see all their friends who are on Spotify in the right sidebar. Clicking on these friends displays their published playlists, which users can stream. Users can click to compose and publish a news feed story linking to a song or playlist within Spotify. Links can also be easily shared directly with Facebook friends that are on Spotify through an in-app messaging, or be published to Twitter or Windows Live Messager through web popups.

When users click through Spotify news feed stories while on Facebook, songs do not play in-line. Instead the song will automatically play in Spotify if the app is open, or the user will be prompted to get the app if they don’t have it. Until Spotify completes its rollout in the US, these links could be a little infuriating to users waiting for an invite.

Once Spotify is publicly available to the 150 million or so Facebook users in the United States, you can expect more brands to integrate the music streaming service into the tab applications they host on their Page. Spotify API-powered apps let brands offer compelling experiences cheaply and easily, while providing exposure for the streaming service. For instance, a Page could display a playlist and ask users to vote for what song best describes their brand.

There’s certainly room for deeper social integration, especially on Facebook.com. Turntable.fm has shown that users are interested in synchronous listening with friends. The ability to perisistently display one’s recent listens in the Facebook profile, or a central hub where one could view all the songs shared by friends could drive conversation and Likes of musician Pages.

Facebook gave Spotify some love this morning, posting an announcement of the launch and a link to the service to several of its official Pages. Former Facebook President Sean Parker also published an emphatic Facebook Note heralding Spotify as the successor to his old company Napster and the answer to the music industry’s financial woes. Those are nice tokens, but placement on the Facebook home page could give Spotify the exposure it will need to displace iTunes and the other music download and streaming services.

Facebook Hires and Departures: Stocky, Feinberg, Engineering, Africa, Asia and More

Posted: 14 Jul 2011 09:49 AM PDT

Facebook made some exciting hires this week, in addition to the usual suspects from the company’s Careers Page and LinkedIn feed, the company hired a former aide to President Barack Obama, Sarah Feinberg, and Google's former director of product management for search, client and infrastructure products, Tom Stocky.

Feinberg was formerly a special assistant tot he president, worked as the communication director for the House Democratic Caucus, a press secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and was also a press secretary for former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle. Now Feinberg will still work in communications, focusing on safety, security and litigation. Stocky has worked for Google since 2005 and is joining Facebook as a director of product.

The company also hired more interns, some engineers, people in Asia and Africa, marketing and more.

New hires per LinkedIn and Other Sources:

  • Elke Karskens, Head of Platform Marketing & Communication EMEA – formerly the Platform marketing Manager at Skype.
  • Alex Şuhan, Software Engineer – formerly a Teaching Assistant at Politechnica University of Bucharest.
  • Connor Hayes, Analyst, Online Sales Operations – formerly a features editor at The Rice Thresher.
  • Justin Allen, Account Executive – previously did similar work at Apple.
  • Caitlin Hipskind, University Recruiting – formerly a Recruiter Coordinator at Facebook.
  • Tatyana Bezuglova, MBA Intern, User Operations for EMEA – previously worked as a Senior Associate at The Boston Consulting Group.
  • Jonasz Pamuła, Software Engineering Intern – formerly a Linux Software Engineer at NComputing.
  • Ivan Georgiev,  Software Engineer Intern – previously did similar work at Musala Soft.
  • Shomir Dutt, User Operations Analyst – formerly a student.
  • Binoy Xavier, Network Deployment Engineer – previously worked as a Network QA Test Engineer at Brocade.
  • Jesse Chen, Marketing & Product Analytics Intern – previously did similar work at LinkedIn.
  • Heather Marquez, Asset Manager – formerly a manager of Asset Lifecycle & Logistics at eBay.

Prior listings now removed from the Facebook Careers Page:

  • Business Analyst, Hyperion
  • Product Manager, Tax Technology
  • Product Manager, Technical Operations
  • Strategic Product Manager
  • Growth Manager Africa – Contract (Nigeria or Kenya)
  • Strategic Partner Development, Local Monetization (Palo Alto)
  • Lead, Data Warehouse Operations
  • User Interface Engineer, Communication Design
  • Financial Analyst – Information Technology
  • Account Executive (Hong Kong)
  • Account Executive (Sydney)
  • Client Partner (Paris)
  • Sales Associate (Sao Paulo)
  • DSO Account Manager (Hong Kong)
  • Strategic Partner Development, Local Monetization (Palo Alto)
  • Manager, Online Sales Operations (Palo Alto)
  • Associate, Ad Operations (Chicago)
  • Manager of Online Sales & Operations (Austin)
  • Manager of Online Sales & Operations (Palo Alto)
  • Manager of Online Sales & Operations (Austin)
  • Manager, Online Sales Operations (Palo Alto)
  • Lead, Risk Management (Austin)
  • Analyst, Platform Operations (Hyderabad)
  • Monetization Product Marketing – Sales and Marketing Solutions
  • Marketing Communications Copywriter
  • Web Optimization Engineer 1106002

Who else is hiring? The Inside Network Job Board presents a survey of current openings at leading companies in the industry.

Facebook Careers Postings: Sales, Dublin, Data Center and More

Posted: 14 Jul 2011 09:24 AM PDT

Facebook added a few managerial positions this week to its Careers Based on the job posts added this week to Facebook’s Careers Page and jobs posted by the company on their LinkedIn feed, Facebook is continuing to grow in Dublin, Ireland and Sao Paulo, Brazil. Jobs ranging from recruiting to sales to data center work were added to the company’s mix this week, see the full list below.

Posts added this week on Facebook's Careers Page:

  • HRIS Analyst (Contract) – Dublin
  • Lead Recruiter (Hyderabad)
  • Technology Partner, Hyperion
  • Technology Partner, Infrastructure
  • Technology Partner, Sales and Marketing
  • Technology Partner, Tax Technology
  • Network Engineer
  • Data Center Capacity Planning Manager
  • Business Operations Associate (SQL) – EMEA (Dublin)
  • Financial Planning & Analysis Manager – EMEA (Dublin)
  • Account Executive (Melbourne)
  • Client Partner (Sao Paulo)
  • Optimization Specialist, Online Sales Operations (Austin)
  • Optimization Specialist, Online Sales Operations (Palo Alto)
  • Software Engineer – Payments

Jobs posted by Facebook on LinkedIn:

Who else is hiring? The Inside Network Job Board presents a survey of current openings at leading companies in the industry.

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