SocialToo, a startup that lets you manage your personal connections on Twitter and Facebook, has launched a new Facebook application that lets you post updates to your Facebook wall, to Twitter, and any Facebook Fan Page you manage. This feature is particularly interesting after Facebook just released a feature that will allow Facebook Page owners to syndicate their updates from Facebook to Twitter — something that users have been asking for for ages. At the moment, it’s unclear whether Facebook will be extending this feature to Facebook Profiles.
Here’s how it works: after installing the application on your Facebook profile, you will be given a prompt in the Publisher’s drop down menu to publish via SocialToo Status. After authorizing your (via oAuth) Twitter accounts, you will be able to select a publish to Twitter option each time you post an update on your Facebook feed via the SocialToo Status option. You can also publish to various Facebook pages (if you are the administrator). When you publish via SocialToo Status, your updates will appear in your personal stream, along with a link to each destination, i.e. Twitter and Facebook Pages. There will also be a little green SocialToo quote icon with each post, differentiating the posts from a regular status update.
There a couple of other roundabout ways to publish updates from Facebook to Twitter that have emerged. An app called FB2Twitter lets you Tweet from Facebook’s Publisher to Twitter. But when trying the app out, I wasn’t able to publish to my Facebook feed. Another way to update Twitter from Facebook by pulling in the Facebook RSS feed into TwitterFeed but the whole process sounds confusing.
SocialToo’s app seems like one of the easiest ways to post from Facebook to Twitter at the moment. That is, until Facebook allows the ability to do this from your profiles and news feed. But its unclear if and when this will happen.
Now it’s no longer Facebook VS Twitter instead it is now Facebook + Twitter .
They are still in competition but as we continue to learn when to block a network, users don’t like that at all.
George, stop spreading rumors. Facebook and Twitter are not in direct competition. It’s schumcks like you and sites like this that have it all twisted.
The world is big enought for both facebook and twitter plus Celebritized.com (A social site that just launched!)
wonder what kind of havok (if any) insues if you have another app that posts twitter updates to facebook – circular craziness ?
Congratulations Jesse, your face is now famous.
Mozy, lol – my face has been around, that’s for sure (wait, that sounds bad)
The TwitterFeed option is not particularly confusing – I’ve been doing it for 2 years now. Alternatively you could put the RSS feed through HootSuite.
It won’t be long though until random people (that you don’t know or have to follow too) can follow you on Facebook (just like they can on Twitter), at which point Twitter will become pretty obsolete overall, as Facebook has a better system, much less downtime, built-in photo sharing, groups, brand pages, events, threaded conversations, detailed profiles, link-sharing that doesn’t require URL shortening, third party stream-reading apps and so much more.
I think Twitter can be pretty unique from a local business angle while Facebook will be more of a consumer story. Its all very early, but that’s how I can see things playing out.
Feature vs. Product vs. Company
Facebook is probably already working on this feature. Too obvious and as you noted many users have been asking for this capability.
I’ll try SocialToo out but can’t see how it will survive long term once fb adds this feature.
Indeed, but in the meantime, this is a nice marketing boost for SocialToo, gets its name out there, builds its brand.
Robb, this is one feature of SocialToo – not the entirety of SocialToo. The product, as it currently exists, also includes daily statistics of follows and unfollows on Twitter, the ability to send surveys to your social media connections, autofollowing and unfollowing capability, and URL redirection for Facebook vanity URLs, etc.
I use the product and am on their board of advisors. This is a good feature to have to fill an existing gap. Should Facebook enable this offer in the future, that’s part of the process, not an end game.
Really, SocialToo serves as an solution to the FaceBook’s swings in syndication of updates. This would satisfy the users who disappointed due the lock in FB’s syndication of updates and help to have FaceBook update on twitter for all users. But if Facebook removes the lock, the value of SocialToo would disappear.
As we suffer another Twitter outtage right now, as Dave N. commented – this might push Twitter one step further out once I can start to have followers of my Facebook fan page or other business profile that pushes to Facebook profiles / fan pages and through them to Twitter (if it’s alive).
Leena, great write up! Thanks for sharing it!
Awesome, I’ve been following Jesse for awhile, he’s a tremendous resource. I haven’t tried SocialToo but this feature looks extremely useful.
Yeap, Facebook + Twitter, and soon Facebook + Twitter + Ticies , I believe it
Social Too has been a great application and now with the addition of pushing Facebook to Twitter It’ll improve things for some people.
One Word of Caution However, If you are already utilizing feed aggregation then double check to be sure to to forward you @replies you had forwarded to Twitter. It’ll create duplicate content and look spammy and no one wants that.
I saw http://fonet.mobi can update your status to Friendfeed, twitter and facebook. you can see all your statuses and feeds as well
Very happy to see this piece on TC. Jesse’s a hard working guy with some great initiatives. Here’s one guy that hopes this exposure helps him!
Thanks Charlie! I appreciate the support.
This is the best solution to the problem of syndicating Facebok updates to Twitter. But if Facebook decides to allow posting of Facebook updates to Twitter, then people might just forget about SocialToo.
MMO, except that SocialToo is about much more than just status updates, or Facebook. This is just one of many tools we offer to complement the Social Web and help you learn more about your relationships. One may go down, but many will still resume, as will SocialToo.
this is cool!