Twitter terms of service changes put an end to recycling content
You must stop reposting Tweets to comply with the new Twitter Terms of Service. But what exactly does this mean and how can you stop your Twitter strategy from tanking?
Evergreen content, or recycling posts, now breaches the Twitter Terms of Service.
The change is one of several new rules. Twitter hopes this will reduce spam and improve user experience.
I am big fan of improving user experience, but when you consider the lifespan of a Tweet, this seems a little harsh. There are thousands of new tweets released every second on Twitter. Which means the engagement window is lucky to be more than a few minutes.
Changes to the Twitter Terms of Service (March 2018)
1. No scheduling of the same Tweet across more than one account.
2. No simultaneous actions, like Likes, Retweets or Follows, across more than one account.
3. No posting duplicate or substantially similar Tweets on one account.
These new rules mean you can’t repurpose your tweets. Not on a single account. And not across other accounts you run.
How strictly will the new Twitter terms of service be enforced?
Only time will tell. But if you breach the rules your account could be suspended or shut down completely. That’s a risk I’m not willing to take. So for me, no more Twitter evergreen content.
Even if you do want to take the risk, your social media scheduling program probably won’t allow it. Twitter has issued them with an instruction to comply. And it seems most are. So even if you want to risk it, it’s unlikely your scheduling service will allow it.
What can you do about it?
For a start, there may be a positive side to this update. If Twitter does enforce the rules, a lot of users will post less content. Which means the number of impressions you get for posts that follow the rules might increase.
But if you rely on evergreen content and want to comply with the Twitter Terms of Service, your workload will grow.
If you have more than one account, you can still retweet from one to another. It’s more work, but still within the rules.
It also seems to be okay to Tweet more than once about a topic. Which means for each blog post, you will need to craft substantially different tweets. This sounds like a lot of work but if you batch this, you can draft 10-20 Tweets as part of your writing process. To do this, go through your blog post and jot down a list of all the different points, tips and takeaways. Then craft each item in that list into a Tweet.
Sample Twitter posts
For example, even for this short post, here is a list I’ve drafted in a couple of minutes:
1. Twitter evergreen content is a thing of the past.
2. What changes do you need to make to your social media strategy now you can’t recycle posts on Twitter?
3. Did you know you can no longer post the same tweet from more than one account on Twitter?
4. Will new Twitter rules banning repurposing tweets improve reach if you follow rules?
5. How to repurpose your blog post into more than one tweet in line with Twitter’s new rules.
6. Twitter’s war against spam is a good thing. But when the average life of a tweet is minutes, or even seconds, you need to think fast to save your strategy.
7. Your Twitter account could get suspended or banned if you repost the same Tweet. How are you managing the change?
8. Will you keep using Twitter now you can’t recycle your Tweets?
9. Is your social media scheduling program complying with Twitter’s new rules?
10. How long do you have to wait before posting the same Tweet to Twitter? According to the new rules – forever.
Disclaimer: At the time of writing, these new rules are being rolled out. I’m currently testing this process to ensure it complies with the rules. I will continue to update this article if I have any negative outcomes. I am also reducing my posting frequency on the same topic to once per week.
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