Social Media Management Systems

A Social Media Management System or SMMS, allows an individual to post, update and manage social media accounts in one place. Accounts can come from varying platforms such as Facebook or Twitter and can include multiple accounts from each platform on the dashboard. One of the main appeals of using an SMMS is the ability to schedule posts in advance and streamline the posting process by posting to all accounts in one go.

Hootsuite

New-Hootsuite-Logo-Banner

Hootsuite was created in 2008. Currently it supports Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, MySpace, WordPress, LinkedIn and Google+ amongst others. Other platforms like Instagram, Reddit, Tumblr, Vimeo and Youtube require a fee to support. The Hootsuite interface allows page managers to view all of their content across platforms at once.

The top navigation bar allows the user to toggle between their various social networks.

top navigation toggle

It also allows users to add additional streams from their existing social networks for viewing. A stream is an element from the social network that the user would like to view on the Hootsuite dashboard.

stream additions

If trying to view a Twitter stream for example, the first step is to select a profile (if more than one Twitter profile is being managed).

The next step is to add what elements to view:

twitter stream

Combining elements of different streams results in various cross platform content in one easy to view location:

dashboard

Pictured above are three different social media accounts. The first stream is The Canopy Club’s Twitter feed. (This is the same content that shows up when the page manager logs in from Twitter and views their timeline. These tweets come from who they follow on the platform)

The second stream is the Canopy Club’s own Facebook wall. It displays posts from the Facebook page.

The third stream displays upcoming events created by the Canopy Club’s Facebook page.

The fourth stream is a second Twitter account managed by the same company. Displayed are its Tweets.

Scheduling or creating posts for any of these platforms is done in this space in the top navigation menu:

scheduling or adding

Once the manager clicks into the box it expands:

posting scheduling

The expansion allows the manager to select what page and platform they want to post to, and subsequently has the posting box conform to that platform. If it’s a Twitter post, the box will only allow 140 characters. If it’s a Facebook post, the box will conform to Facebook’s posting standards. Additionally the manager can then schedule the content to be posted in the future. If the manager wants to post the same content across various platforms at one time, they can do that here.

 Who uses it?
The only person to use a social media management system to manage their content is Derick Fabert at WCIA. The News-Gazette does not utilize this, as reporters across the newsroom post content to each of the outlet’s social media accounts manually. Similarly, WILL does not use one either.

NOTE:
Birjandi spent two years as an intern at Jay Goldberg Events & Entertainment, a production company utilizing web tools like Hootsuite. As the company owns The Canopy Club, Birjandi was given permission to use screenshots from the Hootsuite account to demonstrate its use.