Thanks to smartphones, tablets and laptops, we seldom go a day without updating our Facebook and Twitter feeds. But there are a few times when we can't stay connected.
Whether you're going on leave or travelling, there are those odd times when we simply can't tweet about what we had for dinner or update Facebook friends on your plans.
But there are a few tools that can help you automate your updates, so we took a look at them.
Hootsuite
Arguably the most popular method to schedule social network updates, Hootsuite is used by millions of people.
The message scheduling function is simple enough, being located next to the status update box. Once you've chosen your date and time, as well as your desired social network, you're good to go.
However, to send updates in bulk, you'll need to purchase a Hootsuite Pro account for $9.99 a month. Or you could just manually schedule each and every update as a workaround.
Still, with support for Facebook in addition to Twitter, Hootsuite is well worth a look.
TweetDeck
Another mega-popular social network client, TweetDeck also lets you schedule posts to both Facebook and Twitter.
It's relatively simple to schedule updates, with users clicking the clock icon next to the "send" button to set a time and date.
TweetDeck is another service that doesn't quite let you schedule a load of updates at once,
Seesmic
Yet another well-known social network client, Seesmic gives users the ability to schedule their updates too.
To schedule a post, all you have to do is click the clock icon labelled "scheduled", set the time and you're pretty much sorted. It's also possible to set up many scheduled tweets, keeping your timeline fresh.
In addition to Twitter, Seesmic also has support for Facebook and LinkedIn, making it a jack of all trades.
Twuffer
Despite the cheesy name (Twitter + Buffer, get it?), Twuffer is a pretty capable tweet automation website, with users simply needing to authorise the service.
Once you've given it the thumbs up, you're presented with a dashboard from which you can compose updates and create a scheduled tweet.
It's all very smooth, with tweets being sent out timeously, while users can also schedule multiple tweets and change their timezone too (useful when travelling).
Welshare.com
This service features support for not just Twitter and Facebook, but professional network LinkedIn as well.
After signing in with anyone of the above, or creating a whole new account, you're presented with a timeline of your updates.
At the top is a box for your updates, while another icon below that lets you schedule your posts. The only downside to this is that there doesn't seem to be an easy way to schedule multiple updates.
Sure, you can't natively use Facebook to schedule personal posts and updates, but you can when it comes to group and fan pages.
In the iafrica.com newsroom, we've found it to be a pretty useful tool when an editor goes on leave, allowing us to schedule posts to keep our pages active.
To do so on your own group/fan page, simply click the clock icon below the update box, set the desired year, month, date and time, and you're good to go.
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