#twibble

Some of our twelve Twitter accounts are crafted by humans, others are auto-generated with IFTTT, a robust, free service you should definitely check out. We handcraft all Tweets on our primary accounts – @TribTalkTX and @TexasTribune, for example. Some of our wire feeds, on the other hand, are auto-tweeted with the help of IFTTT recipes. 

Here's an example of an IFTTT recipe that Tweets every time we add a new entry to the AbbottWire:

The IFTTT system has worked very well and enabled us to support more Twitter feeds that we otherwise could with our small staff. The IFTTT system is not without its shortcomings, though. For one thing, it doesn't support our vanity URL short links – trib.it – so we miss out on a bit of branding with each tweet. Another shortcoming, and this is a bigger one, is IFTTT-generated tweets don't include images. 

Tweets with images generally outperform text-only tweets. We boost the chances that our tweets will travel further every time we include an image in the tweet. So, it's always bothered me that our auto-tweets are text only and never really jump out on a user's Twitter feed. 

I've been testing a new service called Twibble that solves the problem. It auto-tweets like IFTTT with two big differences: it grabs the lede art from the tweeted link (regardless if it's our link or another publication's) and includes it as a photo in the tweet. Twibble also supports our bit.ly shortened URLs. 

So what does that mean? Have a look at the two tweets below to see the difference:

Each tweet is promoting the same copy and the same article. The difference is the top one (generated by Twibble) inserts the lede art from the article into the tweet, and it converts the link into our vanity trib.it link. 

The second tweet (generated by IFTTT) includes no photo, and it converts the link into an ift.tt short URL, not a trib.it one. That's great for IFTTT's marketing – not so great for the Tribune's. 

If you're auto-tweeting anything, give Twibble a look. And let me know if you need help setting it up.