Many of us seem as if we are constantly scurrying around often not accomplishing all we had hoped or planned as we started the day. This can be even more troubling for those of us that use multiple social media sites as part of our daily marketing or communication system. Fortunately there are a number of web-based tools to help alleviate some of the hassles when trying to keep up with the demands of growing social media networks.
Though I use a variety of different services (web sites) to increase both efficiency and effectiveness when posting status updates on several of the social media sites I frequent, the two most commonly used are Ping FM and Snurl.
Much of the time when posting status updates, I typically want the updates to be displayed on both Facebook and Twitter. In this case, I use a service named Ping FM (http://ping.fm/), which not only posts simultaneously posts to Facebook and Twitter (and others if they are set up to receive) but also shortens any URLs in the message.
Using Ping FM is easy. After registering to use Ping FM, you enter the message including original URL in the “Message Box” then simply click the “Ping It” button to send it out to the masses.
Since Twitter has a 140 character limit on “tweets” (Twitter updates), short URLs are almost always a requirement! Ping FM does an instant conversion to a shortened URL when initiating the send (Ping It) command.
An example of a status update I sent recently to Facebook and Twitter via Ping FM was:
“Do wind turbines really kill birds? http://ping.fm/2nwMA”
The original URL was: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Renewable-Energy/Do-Wind-Turbines-Kill-Birds.aspx which is just slightly longer than the Ping version!
Often times when posting to Facebook alone, I only use a URL shortening tool if I just want to pseudo-mask or shorten the URL. My tool of choice is Snurl (http://snurl.com/). The tool is also extremely easy to use.
When first arriving at the site, there is a box labeled “Long URL” at the top left corner and a “Snip It” button below. Copy and paste the URL to be shortened into the box and click “Snip It”. It returns a shortened URL: http://snurl.com/dapxg, which you can copy into your Facebook status update post.
See the image below with snippets of the Ping & Snurl sites noting the data entry boxes (both) and URL change (Snurl).
Ping (left) & Snurl (Right)
