There has been a lot of talk on Twitter lately about using automation in social networking. While there are many tools available like Tweetlater and Twitter Tools that do some amazing things, I am not sure that automation in social networking is the best idea.

Maybe what I really mean to say is that I don’t think that every part of social networking should be automated. When you do this, you have to ask yourself if there is really any purpose to what you are trying to accomplish

Do I use it? But I only use it in minimal strategic ways. For example when someone follows me, they get a DM that says something like “Thank you for following me. I look forward to connecting with you.”

There is no link to a million dollar business or a great free gift that is a ploy to get me to buy. It is simply a welcome because I am humble that people want to follow a simple girl like me.

I also use Twitter tools so that people who visit my sites can see what I am tweeting about and to let people know that I have a blog post ready to read. I don’t think there is anything wrong in that because there are people waiting to see what you write. I always follow up a few hours later by manually typing in the link for people who may have missed it and to see if I get any feedback on it.

One of the automation aspects that I think needs to be gone is the welcome of new followers on the timeline. I just think it is waste of space. It makes think of the robot from Lost in Space when he says over and over again “Danger Will Robinson”.

The purpose of Social Netowrking is connection and while automation may have its place, it should not be a way to put Social Media on speed. Eventually what will happen is what happens with all drug addicts – the crash and burn.

I am not saying not to use the tools available. As I said, I use them. However, everything in moderation is a good idea.

What are you thoughts? Does social media automation help or hurt your marketing efforts?