Create an X (formerly Twitter) post

You can create and publish X posts in Hootsuite. Publish posts right away, or schedule them in advance for a specific day and time. Read on to learn about all you can do when creating X posts in Hootsuite.

Create your post

Follow the steps in this article to create your post. Hootsuite does not currently support creating polls.

1. Select Plan to start and schedule your post in a calendar view, or start your post from Create.
2. Select the X (formerly Twitter) profile you'd like to publish to. (Option for Business and Enterprise plans) - Select your organization, and then select Campaign to associate your post with a current or future campaign. Learn more about content campaigns.

   Note: Only one profile can be selected; X doesn't allow publishing to multiple profiles at once.

3. Create your post. The character limit for X posts is 280. You can include the following in your posts:
   • Links - Enter or paste a link in your post to drive traffic to your website, blog, or product. You can shorten your links in Hootsuite for a tidier look, and add tracking parameters so you can see how much web traffic comes from those links. Learn how to shorten and track links.
   • Hashtags - Enter your own hashtags or select AI hashtag suggestions to find hashtags that work with your post text and media. Read our guide to using hashtags on every network.
   • Mentions - Enter @username in your post to invite others on social to join a conversation, and help your post reach their audience as well as your own. X supports mentioning users and company handles. Mentions appear as plain text in Hootsuite but as live links when published.
   • Emoji - Select the smiley face to add emoji.
4. (Optional) Let AI help you write or refine your post - Select Enhance with OwlyWriter AI to have OwlyWriter help you fix spelling and grammar in your post, optimize the length of your caption, change the tone of your post, or make your post actionable. This option is only available to organizations who support using AI.
5. Add one or more images, a GIF, or a video to your post. You can drag files from your computer into your post or select Add media to upload your media. You can also design visuals with Canva (see Design visuals with Canva for help).
   
   Work with images

   For accessibility, add alt text (a short description of your image) to your image. The limit for alt text in X is 1000 characters.

   You can also edit your images (crop, add filters, or make other adjustments) right in Hootsuite. Find out how to customize your images in Hootsuite.

   Point to your image to add alt text or edit your image.

   

   Read about image file requirements.

   
   
   Work with videos

   Select Edit video to edit your video and add filters, stickers, and music to it. Learn more about what you can do with videos in Hootsuite.

   

   Point to a video and select Video settings to do the following:

   • View the video file's properties.
   • Add captions to your videos. Drag a SubRip Subtitle file (SRT file) from your computer into the Subtitles area or choose Upload an SRT file. One file can be uploaded per post. SRT file names must have the following format: filename.[language code]_[country code].srt. Language codes are two lowercase letters and country codes are two uppercase letters. Example: hypevideo.es_ES.srt. Refer to the Facebook list of valid language and country codes.

   Tip: Need to publish subtitles in multiple languages? No problem. Duplicate the post and add a different SRT file.

   Read about video file requirements.

Advanced options

When you create your post, you can take advantage of additional options, such as promoting your post or selecting the specific audience who can see your post.

• Ask for a review (Business and Enterprise plans) - Invite a team member to review and approve your posts before they go live. Select a team member from the Ask for approval list to help make sure your post is on-brand and polished before you publish it. Learn more about asking a team member to approve your post.
• Apply a tag (Business and Enterprise plans) - Select Add next to Tags to apply tags to your posts and analyze their performance in Hootsuite Analytics. Find out more about tagging posts.

Publish your post

When you’re finished creating your post, take a look at the preview on the right to see how it will look on X. You'll be alerted if there are any issues. Save a draft of your post if you're not ready to publish or schedule it. Otherwise, select a Post now or Schedule for later option.

Learn how to find and manage your drafts, published posts, and scheduled posts in a calendar view.