Most social media users are accustomed to scheduling tweets on the go, but if you use a tool like HootSuite switching timezones can raise doubts. At least that’s what I learned last week when I was in Baltimore helping a client build buzz around their conference presentation.
In addition to live blogging the presentation and adding a few key slides to Pinterest, we scheduled tweets to drive traffic to the company blog and help fans and followers participate in the presentation remotely.
The process was a huge success, resulting in a significant surge in interest and a record week for the blog, but when we were sitting at dinner scheduling tweets for the next day though, I was temporarily stumped. My client uses HootSuite and he was three hours outside of his time zone.
Would his HootSuite pick up on his current location via Internet connection and schedule tweets for the current timezone or would we have to compensate for the time change with a little crafty scheduling?
Users Must Change Hootsuite Timezones Manually
As it turns out Hootsuite sticks with your home base and does not change with your current geographic location. This means you either have to manually change the timezone settings yourself in the dashboard or compensate for the time change with a little addition or subtraction.
Since my client was only in Baltimore to schedule tweets for a 24 hour period, we subtracted three hours from the time when we actually wanted tweets to go out to compensate. (Since he’s from the West Coast we scheduled a tweet that we wanted to go out in Baltimore at 10am EST for 7am PST).
If he had planned a longer trip we could have changed the timezone in HootSuite with a few easy clicks.
How to Change Your HootSuite Timezone
Step 1. Go to Launch Menu >> Settings.
Step 2. Go to the Time Zone drop down menu and select your time zone.
Step 4. Press Save Account Info in the lower right corner.
Step 5. Enjoy the accuracy of a new time zone. Remember to change the timezone back upon your return.
