Dear Lifehacker,
I'm getting a bit overwhelmed with all these social networks, and I really don't feel like posting manually to each one every time. I know there are a lot of apps for updating Facebook, Twitter and Google+ at the same time, but which ones are the best?
Sincerely,
Social Stress
Image remixed from an original by Emin Ozkan/Shutterstock.
Dear Stress,
You aren't kidding. There are a lot of apps out there that sync Facebook with Twitter, or Google+ with Twitter and Facebook, but it seems like we gain one and lose three every couple of weeks. Right now, there are a few services we definitely think are a cut above the rest, though, so here are your options.
Share to Twitter and Facebook
If you're only a Twitter and Facebook user, you have a few apps to choose from. Obviously, the official Twitter app for Facebook is always a good choice. It stays updated since it's made by Twitter, but be forewarned it will send every tweet you make to Facebook (excluding replies). That means if you tweet a lot, you could really annoy your Facebook friends.
If you'd rather pick and choose which tweets you send to Facebook, I highly recommend TweetDeck. It's our favorite Twitter client for Windows, and it's available on OS X and mobile platforms as well. Even if you've tried it in the past, the new, non-AIR version is pretty great, so I recommend giving it another shot. It will let you choose which networks you want to post any given status too?Twitter, Facebook, or both. Alternatively, the Selective Tweets app for Facebook can get the job done without a separate app. Just append the #fb hashtag to any tweet you want sent to Facebook, and it'll show up on your Facebook profile as well (without the #fb hashtag). Since this is connected to your Facebook account, it also works for anything you tweet from your phone, which is nice.
The only problem with the above services is that they won't post links or photos on Facebook as proper Facebook links. That is, they won't give them a thumbnail or anything?it'll just show the short link as you'd see it on Twitter. If you really want links and photos to be shared properly, you can use the awesome ifttt service. You can tell it to send any tweet containing a link to Facebook as a proper link, though if you also have it sending regular tweets, it will double up on any link posts, which can be annoying. Ifttt is great for when you only want to share certain kinds of posts?like links or tweets you've favorited?to Facebook.
Share to Twitter, Facebook, and Google+
By far the best way to share statuses between networks is the +Rob Mcgee Google+ account. Just connect your Facebook or Twitter accounts to the +Rob McGee bot using these instructions. It'll only take you a few minutes, and when you're done, anything you post to Google+ will show up on Twitter and/or Facebook, depending on which accounts you attached to the bot. It will also share links as proper links on Facebook, which is great.
The only downsides to this method are that you have to have a Google+ account and that it doesn't send photos to Facebook. If you post a photo on Google+ with a comment, it'll only post that comment as your Facebook status (which sometimes might not make sense). Overall, though, if you have a Google+ account, this is the best method for sending statuses to any network, since it's easy to do, shares links properly, lets you choose which statuses you send, and (like the others) it works on mobile devices, too.
These aren't the only services out there, but they are definitely the best we've found. You have a lot of browser extensions you could use, too, but none seem to be better than the above services, and they require you to use a certain browser (not to mention they won't work from your phone). Hopefully this helps you find a service that's right for you.
Sincerely,
Lifehacker
P.S. Do you have a favorite that we missed? Let us know about it in the comments.
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