Why I Hate TweetDeck’s Integration With Facebook

Monday, March 16th, 2009 at 6:17 pm

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A new version of TweetDeck was released today (0.24 beta) which includes some Facebook support.

Download: http://tweetdeck.com/beta/TweetDeck_0_24.air

(Note this is a beta update and is installed at your own risk.)

TweetDeck beta 0.24

Install the software (your current settings won’t be affected) and you’ll be presented with a new checkbox with ‘Facebook’ written next to this. Check this, and every time you tweet your Facebook status (after you’ve given TweetDeck permission) will be updated as well.

I hate this. I try really hard not to be a hater, but I draw the line here. This I hate.

I’ve written before about why I believe status managers of any kind are a bad idea and I stand by it. No matter how much Facebook has tried to capture some of Twitter’s magic with its recent update the two platforms, and the two status features, are quite different. Hence, after trying out this feature on the new TweetDeck, I unticked the box immediately. I urge everybody to do the same thing. The last thing I want to see are new users to Twitter being encouraged to use any kind of cross-platform status updater. It’s a bad habit. Stop it, stop it, stop it.

(You can use TweetDeck to just update your status on Facebook, but why would you ever do that?)

There’s also a new Facebook icon on your taskbar. Click on this and you’ll open a Facebook pane within TweetDeck which allows you to monitor the status updates of all of your friends. This updates every 60 seconds, and you can use this feature to re-tweet your Facebook buddies’ status updates and if they’re online open a chat window (within TweetDeck) to communicate with them.

I’m sure some people would find this useful but again it’s not a feature I like. I’m not entirely sure of the point of integrating Facebook within Twitter at all – I don’t think they complement each other particularly well for various reasons – but why I’d need a window to monitor my friend’s profile updates within TweetDeck when I can just have Facebook open in Firefox is a bit lost on me. Also, I don’t believe you can implement any kind of filter within the Facebook pane on TweetDeck, nor does it seem to acknowledge your Facebook settings, which means if you’ve taken advantage of Facebook’s welcome update in that area you’ll continue to see status updates from people within TweetDeck, even if you wouldn’t on Facebook. Doesn’t make a lot of sense and is to be honest quite unwelcome.

I also don’t like the idea of re-tweeting the status updates of my Facebook friends, and I’m not sure they would, either. Unless they’re already on Twitter and you give credit to them with an @reply, why would you do this? It’s not as if it’s going to lead to them getting any more follows or anything like that. There’s also potential for massive breaches of privacy here. I use Facebook to keep in touch with friends and family; I use Twitter to meet new people and share links and content. Again, two very different things. I don’t want my Facebook stuff being re-posted to Twitter.

Of course one could easily copy and paste anything from any external service into Twitter, including Facebook, but it’s quite a bit easier with one-click functionality. It also gives it a sense of credibility; like it’s acceptable behaviour and good etiquette. It isn’t.

(I’m also not sure what it does with Facebook statuses longer than 140 characters; my guess is they get cut off at the end, which is going to be pretty ugly.)

As said this update is beta and I found it quite buggy. TweetDeck repeatedly asked Facebook to log back in even though I’d clicked on the checkbox to remember me, and after a while the Facebook pane seemed to stop working altogether. I was also repeatedly logged out of Facebook itself. These problems likely will be rectified in the next version.

There are some other non-Facebook cosmetic changes to TweetDeck 0.24. Click on the ‘other actions’ button on any avatar and instead of one single drop-down menu as before it is now broken up into ‘user’ and ‘tweet’ sub-categories, although I believe the functionality is the same.

I really like TweetDeck and I believe it makes Twitter a much better place, especially once you move above the comfort level of followers (which I think is somewhere between 150-200). Everything is easily manageable and core features like re-tweeting and direct messages are just one click away. But I hate the changes that have been made in version 0.24 of the software and I’m nervous about the direct in which it’s now heading.

I can absolutely understand trying to put more functionality into the client but in the opinion of this fan, the integration with Facebook is not only a bad idea, but potentially a very negative one for users of both platforms. Not only are we now looking at waves of really ugly status updates on Facebook, but the ramifications of re-tweeting the statuses of non-Twitter users adds up to a huge pile of ugly.

My advice: wait until the next major update before installation. Unless these Facebook features seem really great to you – and if they do, I’m kinda worried about the future of Twitter, to be honest – you’re not going to get anything out of this upgrade.

If you do install, share the same reservations I do or think it’s a positive step forward, please hit the comments section below. I’m very interested to hear your thoughts.

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JJ
As more of a Facebook reader than a poster, I've found the integration fantastic. What a pain it was to visit Facebook (when I remembered!), only to trawl through the swathes of updates I'd missed. I can now have them all streaming into my TweetDeck without intervention or interruption. I can *finally* keep up with the activities of my friends during the day!

On the matter of good prose, I suspect you're fighting an uphill battle there. People being people, they will of course use these services in whatever way they please. I already have a number of friends making "ugly" updates - and I doubt they've even heard of TweetDeck. Frankly I couldn't care less. I still understand what they're doing/saying. Either way, I find there are far more important things to worry about than the mild misuse of status updates on social networking websites ;)

So for me and my habits, this was clearly a good development. It has already increased my productivity by streamlining at least a little of the "fluff" in my life.

Joanna
I appreciate your insights on Twitter and FB crossovers. I've been having my Twitter updates publish on Facebook (through a Facebook application) and have been struggling with it. I also use Facebook and Twitter for different purposes - FB is for connecting with family and friends (and some former coworkers), Twitter is for professional networking and sharing information. I don't want my FB updates on Twitter and I don't want to bore FB friends with some of the professional stuff I'm interested in Twittering about.

However, I disagree with your assessment of the TweetDeck upgrade -- I think it's great. I love having the ability to choose whether or not to update my status on FB as well as Twitter. It gives me control.

True, the status format may be Twitterish, rather than Facebookish (i.e. not talking about myself in the third person), but I'm OK with that. When I write a Twitter update that will also be a FB update, I can be creative in making it work with both formats. I.e. "Found an interesting blog post on the new TweetDeck beta..."

Ginés
I'm agree to many things.

What I dont like about Twitter and Facebook integration is that my followers have chosen to follow my updates but my facebook friends not. Did they care about my contents on twitter? Maybe 5%.
It's like some kind of intrusion.

Iain Dodsworth
Sheamus, interesting post and I'm taking it all on board. Hopefully you might take some solace in the fact that services will only be integrated into TweetDeck which do not detract from it's core functionality and which are completely voluntary. The retweeting of a FB status, I think, is an interesting cross-service mechanism but it could also be a mistake. Hence the purpose of putting this pre-release out, to get a general feel for the functionality and what is and is not welcome. I've already added v0.24.1 which auto-blocks @replies being posted to FB even if the FB checkbox is ticked. Lots more to do here and I'll checking back in with you regularly to get your thoughts :) Thanks.

Mike Kellock
I enjoyed your post and totally appreciate your concern. I also see the two services as being quite a bit different... similar to what you describe. This being said, I do enjoy being able to update my status in two places at the same time.

My updates on Facebook are not the same as my updates on Twitter. But, I do like having this option available. As well, I like seeing Facebook status updates within TweetDeck.

Thought I would share a couple of thoughts since I took the time to read yours.

Sheamus
@Mike: Thanks for your comment, Mike. I would have less of a problem with multiple status updates if all the different services treated the status in the same way. But they don't; even though Facebook is trying to become more Twitter in that sense, most users will update their status in the same way. Ugly status updates are a personal bugaboo of mine. I can't help it. I appreciate (and strive for) good prose. :)

@Iain: Thanks for visiting my blog Iain and I appreciate your insights. You’re absolutely right that these Facebook extras are voluntary, and I for one will not be using them. However, since the announcement of your beta I’ve been tracking the response within the Twitterstream, as well in the comments sections on Mashable and Techcrunch, and most people seem very pro the integration. I am sure you did your homework here and it would thus seem like you made the correct decision, but my concerns stand.

I wouldn’t have an issue if TweetDeck users unchecked the Twitter checkbox when sending status updates just to Facebook, but nobody is going to do that. Which means we’re going to see a mix of Facebook-esque statuses on Twitter and vice versa. As I said above to Mike, I’m a bit of a purist about all this. I realise there’s every chance I’m in the minority – and with some big Twitter-users supporting these new features in TweetDeck a lone opinion is going to get somewhat washed away – but it does give me some concern.

As said I’m a huge TD fan and it’s absolutely changed the way I and many other people use Twitter, totally for the better. Because these features are optional it doesn’t really affect me in any way, but that’s never been the concern. I’m just loathe to the idea of Twitter becoming more like Facebook, and TD is so popular that it can have a real impact on the Twitter stream itself, the way it is used and what is perceived as ‘normal’.

To be completely frank I don’t really care what happens to Facebook because I only drift in and out of there on occasion. But while there are many changes I’d like to see made to Twitter itself, I’m not sure aggregation with other social media is one of them.

Again, thanks for stopping by. :)

Daniel
I think it's quite useful from the fact of having everything in one place, but I agree with the cross platform status updates, especially when Facebook updates for me are a lot more personal than anything I'd ever publish on Twitter.

Unfortunately this is the way everything is working towards and as much as people dislike it, it's the way the web is moving forward. Everything is becoming aggregated and I can envisage the days where one status updates everything - I mean it's already happening in various forms anyway.

It is a bit of an inconvenience true, but users will lap this up. I have a feeling the hardcore of Twitter will hate it for the very reasons you describe though.

Sheamus
Unfortunately I suspect you are probably right. :(

For what it’s worth, I’ve reverted back to my previous install of TD. One, because I don’t like the Facebook integration, as said, but perhaps more important: in the new install of TD the tab key (on my keyboard) went to the Twitter checkbox, as opposed to the ‘shorten URL’ text box, which I use with every tweet that includes a link. A minor thing but was getting real annoying real fast. :)

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