Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some frequently asked questions from our users. Is your question not listed here? Visit our support page and let us know!
I activated my account, why aren't messages being rebroadcasted to the group account?
First, confirm which "Tweeting Method(s)" you have enabled on the configuration page. If contributors are trying to Tweet via Direct Message, you will have to make sure the Group Account is following each contributor. Next examine the "Stats" tab of the configuration page. If the "Last check for new messages" timestamp is up to date, then GroupTweet is working as intended. Most likely, you are having trouble with some of the Twitter basics. Examine http://support.twitter.com/ for information.
Is it required for each group member to have their own personal Twitter accounts?
If a group member wants to become a "Contributor" and post messages to the rest of the group, then YES, they will need to sign up for their own personal Twitter accounts. We encourage all group members to sign up for Twitter because it is so awesome, however if some members are too resistant and they just want to follow the groups messages they can simply bookmark the website twitter.com/yourgroupnamehere, or to receive text message updates, text "Follow YourGroupNameHere" to the number 40404.
Which Tweeting Method should I choose?
Most users prefer using the @Mention Tweeting Method as this is the simplest and most intuitive way to get started. Assuming your contributors do not have "protected" or private accounts, the Group Account does not need to follow each potential Contributor and its easy for Contributors to simply include @YourGroup at the beginning or end of their Tweets. If you have contributors with protected accounts, the group account will in fact need to follow that contributor in order to see the @Mentions.
If you desire private group communication, you should disable the @Mention method and instruct contributors to Tweet via Direct Messages. Remember, when using the Direct Message method, the group account will have to follow back all potential Contributors in order to allow them to send Direct Messages.
Hashtag posting is a great option as long as all your contributors have public accounts. Hashtag posting does not work for contributors with protected or private accounts. It allows you to designate a specific hashtag for your group and anytime a contributor includes this hashtag in a Tweet from their personal account, the GroupTweet account automatically picks it up and converts it into a tweet for all the other followers to see.
Can group members receive an email alert each time a new message is sent from the Group Account?
No, Twitter does not offer email alerts for individual Tweets. However, they do offer SMS or Text Message alerts which will help your group members never miss an important message. Group members that aren't even on Twitter can still receive text message alerts from the group. To learn more click here.
Why can't Group Members find the group account on Twitter when they search?
New accounts sometimes take a while to show up in Twitter's search results. The easiest way for group members to find your new group account and follow it is to simply give them the link, "Twitter.com/yourgroupnamehere". From that screen, if they are logged into their personal accounts, they can easily click the "Follow" button.
Can I use GroupTweet on my phone?
Yes! We don't offer a mobile app (not yet), but you can use SMS quite easily with GroupTweet. If you want to get your Group's updates delivered to your phone via SMS, simply text "Follow yourgroupnamehere" to 40404 (only supported in the US). For other SMS commands see: http://support.twitter.com/articles/14020-twitter-sms-commands
How do Group Members receive group messages as text messages?
If they are in the United States, they can simply text "Follow yourgroupnamehere" to the number 40404. Users can also do it via Twitter.com, see this Twitter support page
I want to setup multiple GroupTweet accounts, but Twitter says my email address is already taken!
Unfortunately, this is a Twitter restriction. You need to either enter another email address (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) or if you already have a Gmail address, you can use the following trick outlined here: http://www.labnol.org/internet/one-email-for-multiple-twitter-accounts/9492/
How do I make sure that my group's messages are private and only seen by approved group members?
All you have to do is login to your Group Account at Twitter.com and mark your account as "Protected". For more info, see this Twitter Support page. Please note, that with Protected accounts, you will have to manually approve each follower of your account. You will also need to follow back each follower so that contributors can send Direct Messages to the Group Account which will then be converted into Tweets. You will likely want to disable the @Mention posting method as well.
How do I make contributors' messages show up in both their personal timelines as well as the GroupTweet timeline?
Simply instruct them to use the @Mention posting method and include the mention of @yourgroup at the end of their Tweet. If they include the @yourgroup at the beginning of their Tweet, this will still be publicly visible, however the Tweet will be treated as a Reply and won't go out to all the contributor's followers.
How do I make contributors' messages show up only in the GroupTweet timeline and not in each of their individual timelines?
This is easy! Just instruct contributors to only use the Direct Message posting method when they want to Tweet from the GroupTweet account. Direct Messages won't show up in their personal timelines, but will still be converted into Tweets from the GroupTweet account!
I don't want to have to follow each contributor from the GroupTweet account!
No problem, just utilize the @Mention posting method. Due to Twitter's treatment of Direct Messages, you can only use the DM posting method if the Group Account follows each potential contributor. If you don't want to hassle with following back each contributor, simply instruct contributors to Tweet from the GroupTweet account by sending @Mentions.
Does every Group Member have to follow each other?
Nope! That's the beauty of GroupTweet. Group Members only need to follow the GroupTweet activated account in order to stay up to date.
Why are group members seeing messages twice in their timelines? One from the contributor and one from the group account?
If you are using the @Mention tweeting method and your group members are all following each other already, then they will see double posts. A simple solution to this problem is to instruct Contributors to Tweet via Direct Message. For smaller GroupTweet with lower numbers of followers, we generally recommend using the Direct Message posting method to avoid this situation.
If I input contributor names in the contributor box, are these the only users that can Tweet from the GroupTweet account?
Yes! If you put in one name or 1,000 names in the contributor box, these are the only users who can Tweet from your account.
Do I have to designate specific Contributors?
Not at all. If you leave the contributor box blank, this allows any Twitter user to Tweet from your GroupTweet account by either sending the account a Direct Message or @Mention, depending which Tweeting method(s) you have enabled.
Please note, only users the Group Account is following will be able to send Direct Messages to the group, so this can be used in a similar manner to explicitly listing each contributor at GroupTweet.com.
If I have a lot of contributors do I need to add each one individually?
If you want to ensure that only your contributors and no other outside Twitter users can contribute to your account, then yes, you will have to add each one manually. If you have hundreds or thousands of potential contributors, it would make sense to leave the contributors section blank and utilize an "Unrestricted Contributors" account. If you seeing spam or unwanted messages coming through you can either turn on Message Moderation and manually approve each message or block abusive users through Twitter.com and they will no longer be able to @Mention your GroupTweet account any longer.
I want to add multiple contributors to my account, however I want it to look like a normal Twitter account. I don't want each contributors' name to be displayed.
No problem! Just change your Broadcast Template to option #5, Message Only.
I get an email from Twitter each time a contributor sends a GroupTweet! Make it stop!
No problem! Simply visit Twitter.com and sign into the Group Account. Visit Settings--Notifications--and uncheck "Email me when: I'm sent a direct message, reply, or mention"
How can I deactivate GroupTweet on my Twitter account?
You can turn off the GroupTweet service by configuring your account and setting Status to "Inactive". Also within the configuration options, you can completely remove your group account information from our system.
Is my data safe and secure?
GroupTweet does not store any data other than your group account's authentication keys. No messages are stored on the GroupTweet servers. You can also check out our privacy policy for more information about how we handle your sensitive data.
How do I cancel my Premium subscription?
To cancel an auto-renewing subscription, simply log in to your PayPal account and cancel the subscription. Once you have canceled the subscription in PayPal, you will no longer be billed by GroupTweet.
