Last month, Twitter made an announcement regarding the ways in which automation tools can be used on its platform. As a result, the way you’ve been using Twitter up until now could be about to change (depending on what you’ve been doing).
The bottom line is that Twitter’s new update prevents you from using automation services to:
- Post identical or very similar content across several different accounts
- Like, retweet or follow from multiple accounts simultaneously
- Post duplicative or substantially similar content, replies or mentions on one account
- Post multiple updates (either using a single account or multiple accounts) that pertain to a specific timely topic in an attempt to subvert or manipulate it i.e. publishing tons of updates using a specific hashtag to boost its chances of trending
While the update is mainly aimed at the providers of scheduling and automation services, it could, nevertheless, impact how you post.
Remember, Twitter automation tools aren’t made equal. So be careful in trusting the Twitter scheduling of your choice, as not all of them comply 100% with the recent announcement.
Does it spell the end of evergreen content and recurring tweets?
Not necessarily, but it’s definitely the end of Twitter automation as we know it. It’s a good thing in my opinion, as Twitter started to be pretty annoying and spammy anyway.
What ‘evergreen automation’ tools say:
RecurPost emailed all their users with a really clear overview of Twitter’s TOS changes, what actions they are taking and what these changes mean for their users. I’m particularly looking forward to seeing their new feature for creating unique tweets!
SmarterQueue is another favourite low-cost tool that I use and they too are making the necessary changes to their product to make sure it conforms to Twitter’s new rules. They’ve already introduced a few of their new features to their power users and you can check out their feedback here.
HiPlay is a new kid on the block. I’ve only recently tested this app and I’ve been impressed with their user interface. Unfortunately, based on their blog post, HiPlay doesn’t comply with all updated Twitter’s TOP at the moment. For example, they seem to continue to offer repetitive sharing of the same tweets. So far they’ve only made precautions about posting across multiple accounts.
MeetEdgar is the high-end version of Twitter automation tools (Edgar is the only one who doesn’t have a free plan available). Their blog post clearly explains what Twitter’s new TOS mean and what action needs to be taken to comply (and avoid getting your account suspended).
SocialJukebox, formerly known as TweetJukebox, used to be my favourite tool. During the transition, they cancelled the free version and forced me (and my clients) to move somewhere else. I couldn’t find any information about what actions they’re taking to assure their app is following Twitter’s TOS. I would be wary using this tool going forward. Plus, their own Twitter presence has always been the most automated of all the above.
What do you need to do?
Familiarise yourself with Twitter’s Rules and Terms of Service.
Check if the tools you’re using for scheduling and automating Twitter content comply with these new rules and if not, disable them immediately.
If you used Twitter mainly to drive traffic to your website, you’ll need to rethink your strategy for this platform.
In case you have a global business and were trying to reach different people in different timezones with the same content, you’ll have to come up with a unique text for each tweet.
Focus more on conversations rather than sharing the same content over and over again. Try and do more real-time tweeting and rely less on automation (if that’s an option). After all, we’re all busier than ever nowadays, which is why automation tools gained such popularity. Follow the Twitter rules and you should be okay.
If you want to know more about this update and what it means for your business, watch this short video from Andrew and Pete:
