Your profile picture on Facebook and Twitter doesn’t need to be completely different. If you’re running the same business on both social media platforms, or if you just like the way one picture looks better than the other, you can sync your profile pictures together so they always look like they go together. Follow these simple steps to keep your Facebook and Twitter profile pictures in sync , Don’t Let Your Facebook and Twitter Profile Pictures Get Out of Sync
Take a good photo
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A profile picture is arguably even more important than your cover photo. This is what people will see when they visit your profile; it’s where they’ll click to check out your timeline, photos, or external links. With that in mind, don’t just take any old photo—take a good one! Keep it simple, focus on making eye contact with your camera (or iPhone), and try to avoid too much clutter around you. If you have an interesting background behind you, consider taking your picture against a neutral wall instead of something like a busy street. If all else fails, ask someone to take a quick snapshot for you with their phone. You can always crop it later if needed.
Use the right settings
The standard profile photo size for both is 180 x 180 pixels, which looks fine on a computer screen but can look a little pixelated on some mobile devices. If you want to give your audience a better idea of what you look like, try upping your picture to 200 x 200 pixels or even larger. And as always, use an image file that’s at least 300 dpi resolution or higher. That way it’ll be crisp and clear regardless of whether they’re looking at it on their smartphone, tablet or desktop.
Use the right apps
Social media has given rise to new ways to connect, share content, and promote yourself. You can get creative with it; many people have added a small logo or image to their profile pictures, or maybe a fun tagline below their name. Whatever you choose to do, remember that consistency is key—so keep your Facebook profile picture up-to-date by posting on your Twitter account so they match up perfectly. You don’t want to be one of those people who post an old photo because you forgot to update! If you need help finding a great app for editing photos, try out PicMonkey. It’s free and easy to use, plus there are tons of preloaded images and effects for inspiration.
Use Hootsuite to save time
Want to save some time? Try using social media management services such as Hootsuite or Sprout Social to streamline your social media. These tools allow you to schedule out posts in advance, so that once you find a picture you like and decide on a title, all you have to do is click post. Check out these tips from Mashable on how to use Hootsuite . . . or check out our guide on how to stay active on Twitter 24/7 for more tips. If you’re going with an image-only service, don’t forget about Visual.ly , which allows users to create eye-catching infographics quickly and easily (and if you need inspiration, we have thousands of infographics available on Iconfinder ).
Is it worth it?
If you’re someone who spends a lot of time on social media (and why wouldn’t you?), then it might be worth syncing your profile pictures. While some people find that changing their photo every few months keeps things interesting, for others it’s too much work to maintain. If you decide to keep everything in sync, just be sure not to leave any gaps longer than six months—otherwise friends will wonder what happened to you!
Best practices to keep them synced
Keep your profile pictures synced by uploading your updated image to Facebook, then clicking Save Changes before logging out. (If you upload an image while logged into Facebook, it will sync automatically.) Now log into Twitter, click on your profile picture in Settings, and click save changes. That’s all there is to it! If you ever notice that one is out of sync, simply repeat these steps.
Tools to keep them synced
I’ve found many different tools to help manage my profile pictures on various social networking sites. Some are web-based, some are desktop apps, others work with iOS and Android. The one I like best is called Iconfinder; it’s a sort of Pinterest board for finding/sharing high-quality images for your social media accounts. If you want to keep all your profiles in sync, start using an image management system like Iconfunder so you always have a variety of high-quality pictures at your disposal.