Written by: Jeremy Burt, owner of Cicada Graphics & Web Solutions
You knew eventually you'd have to do it, so you went ahead and started a Twitter account...
...and a Facebook Page, and a LinkedIn Company Page, and maybe (if you were feeling especially productive that day) you even started a Google+ account, a Pinterest account, Foursquare account and YouTube channel.
Then you posted... something.
And you were off! You were "doing" this social media thing! Finally you could stop worrying about it. You had one less thing to think about, and the best part was you knew that you would always have an answer when people asked "Hey, can I follow you on Twitter?" or "Are you guys on Facebook?"
And then you posted... something else. ...and again a few more times since then.
But you may have already made a few mis-steps, so lets back up...
The Wrong Way #1: Don't worry about who sets up your account - just make sure it's up and cross it off your list so you can move on to something else.
Who created your account(s)? What email address or account did they use? How did they set up the account's ownership and reporting features? What sort of notification settings did they apply to the account(s)? Why does any of this matter? Well, It's not just a simple matter of house keeping. The way you set up your accounts from the beginning can save (or create) a number of headaches down the road.
Every social media requires the use of at least one email address in order to establish that the account is being created by a real, living, breathing human being. So when faced with the question of which address to use, many people will arbitrarily use one [read: "any"] of their email addresses that come to mind, or - even worse - they will have the local intern who is setting up their account(s) use one [read: "any"] of their email address to set up the account(s).
*at this point, I'd like to point out that allowing "the intern" to manage basic aspects of your social media presence after the accounts have been established is one thing; but allowing them to create or set up your accounts will cause nothing but problems later. Don't allow interns, friends, nieces, nephews, your next-door neighbor's kid - or anybody but yourself for that matter - to set up your organization's social media accounts. DO IT YOURSELF.*
The biggest problem with allowing anybody to use any email address to create and setup your account(s) is quite simple - What happens when that individual is no longer associated with your organization? Suddenly your organization's social media presence is in the hands of an individual who has no authority to represent you... and you are now at the mercy of their willingness to hand over the reins, which - in some cases - will include either having them give you personal login credentials to their personal email/social media accounts, or going through a lengthy "verification/re-verification" process together.
Solution #1 A: DO IT YOURSELF or at the very least have it set up using a generic email account to which both you and the account creator/monitor(s) will have access.
This will ensure that you know how to access, monitor, and - if necessary - edit the account(s) and its content. Additionally, you will then be set up from the beginning to receive information, feedback, and engagement reports from the various accounts that represent you.
Solution #1 B: As often as possible, USE THE SAME EMAIL TO SETUP ALL SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS.
This is made easier by the fact that Google is well on their way to owning the world, and many of the social media accounts owned by (Google+, YouTube, Blogger) are all automatically made available to you once you've set up an account with any of them.
But even when you go on to set up additional accounts (Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc) you should continue to use the same email account. this makes aggregating your social media feedback easy - it's all just waiting for you in your inbox!
*I acknowledge that Facebook is unique in that you cannot set up a "Page" without using a personal account... in this case, there's no way to get around it; you MUST set up your own personal Facebook account (if you haven't already) using your own email address and then use YOUR OWN Facebook account to create your organization's Facebook Page. Nobody is forcing you to actually interact on Facebook, but Facebook is forcing to create an account in order to have a page. Actually, it's kind of sly when you think about it.*
The Takeaway...
You wouldn't hand over the keys to the building to some high school student you barely know. Nor would you hand your biggest client over to the new guy and send them on their merry way without any training. Yet that is essentially what you're doing when you let the intern create and setup your organization's outward-facing image using their own contact information.
There is a time and place to set a social media specialist, but you need to take control of the creation and setup yourself. You may think it's a bit of a hassle at first, but believe me... the alternative is A LOT worse.
This is Part 1 in an ongoing series about "The Wrong Way to Use Twitter and Other Social Media". To receive information about the rest of this series, subscribe to this blog above.
