The other day I put an open question on LinkedIn … very simple, or so I thought! My question was this: ‘Do you use automation in your social media strategy? Do you think it’s a good thing or a bad thing?‘

As you may know, I do automate several of my social media posts … you know, the product and service ones. I only have so much time to post on my networks, and really what I want to be doing when I am ‘live’ is to be connecting with people, not tweeting or posting about the services I offer. So I automate those so that people can get a sense of what I do and how I do it.

So I thought by asking that question on LinkedIn I would get some input as to whether people liked or disliked the automation aspect as I see it. Instead, I got all kinds of answers that really surprised me. Many people thought that automation was a bad idea, no doubt because of those bots that post dozens of posts every hour (you know the ones) in an effort to monopolize the twitter feed. I auto-post about once every two hours on Twitter … in order to reach my audience at various stages of their day.

Anyway, most people said they didn’t like automation, and I agree to a certain extent. I know when you ask a question you have a 50/50 chance of people agreeing with you, but it doesn’t help if they don’t really understand your question.

This was an interesting exercise for me because I realized that what is so clear to me in my head really doesn’t always translate to others without more explanation. I actually had a semi-heated discussion with someone about this very topic as a result of me posting that question (but that’s another blog post!).

So my lesson was this … when posting on social forums or networks, be sure to make your point clear. My intention was to post a question that would generate discussion, but what I received in return was opinions that either agreed with my viewpoint, disagreed vehemently, or were way off track on what I was actually asking.

Clarity … essential when trying to foster discussion. I chalk it up to ‘ask a stupid question’ and I will be sure to be more careful in the future. By the way, I am grateful to each person who took the time to answer my query … whether we agreed, disagreed, or completely misunderstood each other! 

Communicating online is not always as simple as communicating in person, but it certainly expands our networks farther than we ever could have in person. Good to meet all of you!

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