I was reading Chris Brogan‘s newsletter and really resonated with a paragraph of his about how using the same message across all social media platforms is just wrong. He didn’t spend much time on it, though, so I want to elaborate.

By the way, Chris Brogan is at the forefront of social media and internet marketing. He’s been blogging since 1998 and is considered by many to be one of the leading internet marketing gurus. Here is what he said that caught my eye:

I don’t like using a service like Ping.fm to send one message across multiple platforms. It’s lazy. It’s mechanical. And the platforms all have a different vibe.

First off, Ping.fm is a social media aggregation service. You input all your social media logins and then from a single interface, it sends out updates. A lot of people like this service because it seems efficient and a time saver. And it is.

But Chris’s problem with it stems from the way you interact with, say Facebook, which is totally different from how you would interact with a more formal community, such as LinkedIn.

As a job seeker, your asset is time. If you were blogging and marketing for a business, then Ping.fm and other shortcuts might make more sense. But you’ve got too much to lose by ignoring the rules set out by each platform. So, just as a frame of reference:

  • LinkedIn: The most professional outlet you have. ALL of your updates need to be professional and somewhat formal.  Generally, there needs to be a professional reason for you to connect with anyone here.
  • Facebook: More casual is okay. You can keep things personal. Just remember that a potential employer might get a glimpse if you aren’t paying attention to your settings. The rule of thumb is that Facebook friends should be friends, or have a good reason to connect.
  • Anyone can connect with anyone. There doesn’t need to be a reason or an introduction. A good rule of thumb is to tweet about personal (not too personal!) things about 80 to 90 percent of the time. The remaining 10 to 20 percent of your tweet material can be about what type of job you’re looking for or trying to reach out to certain companies.

If you did a blanket post on all of these, it would come across weird — you need to frame your content according to the style or format of the different media.

I have found a tool that doesn’t require blanket posting, but still allows you to aggregate your profiles. It’s called DandyID. I’m just getting started with it, and I love the analytics. I can see who is looking at which social media profile. This helps me focus my communication message on a specific platform.

Play around with it, or stick around and check for updates, because I’ll be reporting back to you on how I use it and whether it is worth signing up.

Let me know what you think of this post — or what you think of DandyID if you check it out! Your comments are always welcome, and useful for others.