I recently linked my Facebook fan Page to my Twitter account. The thinking behind the move was simple. First the audiences for both my Page and Twitter accounts are similar making the content of the Page post and tweet relevant in both cases. Second, when I update my Page Facebook creates a tweet giving me one less thing to do. Sounds simple enough, but it’s not.
I imagined that any link contained within the Page post would be sent (probably in shortened form) in the tweet. Instead Facebook send Twitter a link to the post on the Facebook Page (here’s an example), and not the link posted to the Page.
What this means is that users are taken to a page on Facebook that contains the original post. From there they must then click through to the article. It’s a long way around.
Facebook may be trying to help Page owners by driving traffic back to the Page post and therefore the Page. I’d like to think that’s the case. A more cynical view is that Facebook is attempting to grab a few extra ad-carrying page impressions. Maybe that’s going too far. Whatever their reasons it’s a clumsy arrangement that doesn’t work well for the end user.
As of yesterday I’ve unlinked my Facebook Page and Twitter account until they get it sorted out.
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