Is Auto-Posting for Social Media a Good Policy?

Have you been forced to deal with an unfortunate social media disaster? Baratunde Thurston, director of digital at The Onion, shared an experience of a past crisis in the September issue of Fast Company. It all happened because of one wrong setting that made a major impact and briefly labeled the brand as a “spammer.”

Tools for scheduling your posts, such as Hootsuite or Seesmic, can be very helpful and convenient – especially when you have multiple accounts to manage. But with the convenience comes risk. Knowing your settings and how they work is a vital part of using any tool in the online world. Catastrophes can show up around any corner. If you don’t follow the instructions carefully, there can be dire consequences ­ – all because you wanted to save a little time. It can take a simple check of a box to differentiate between being a spammer and an authentic user.

The necessity of double-checking your posts before you publish them can be easy to forget. Even those who thoroughly review content before sending it live can make errors. It never hurts to have a second pair of eyes look over your post.

So what do you do if you come across a major social media emergency? Whether you’re posting on behalf of your clients or your own company, every business needs a social media policy. It can help draw distinct lines for employee behavior on social sites and establish guidelines in case of an unexpected crisis.

Do you have a social media policy in place?

Published on: August 16, 2012