Cross-posting: It May Not Be What You Think

My Twitter Profile Image

Services are available that make it possible for you to post the same content across multiple profiles at one time, whether or not you are logged in to those profiles.  I don’t support the use of them, and here’s why.

First, is my desire to protect the relationships you are building.  Your community is made up of people on several platforms and profiles; think of them as neighborhoods.  Your Facebook Friends are different from your Facebook Fans are different from your Twitter Followers are different from your LinkedIn Contacts, etc.  Each neighbor allows you to enter their news stream for slightly different reasons; not all of your neighbors connect with you on every profile you maintain.  While you are the same person in each neighborhood, the content you share should be filtered to reflect the specific interests of your neighbors.  As an example, for the most part, I seek and provide information on Twitter, I write about marketing for my clients on my blog, and I am more personable (not personal) on my Facebook profile.   If I ignore the guiding interests of my neighbors, by cross-posting content that is relevant to one neighborhood, but irrelevant to my others, they may feel overlooked, disregarded or, worse, lost in the shuffle.  They may move to another neighborhood, without providing a forwarding address.  I will have damaged and lost relationships.

Second, is my desire to protect the engagement of social media.  We all deal with time constraints.  Posting content across each of your profiles at one time may seem like a good way to save time and deliver your message.  Here’s the thing:  the problem arises when you post content that poses a question, requests an opinion or evokes a response from your community (because that’s what happens when social media is used correctly).  If your followers try to open a conversation with you about your post, and you aren’t there, they feel irritated or ignored.  They feel as though you are talking AT them and not WITH them.  You are broadcasting, not engaging.

If you see a post on any one of my profiles, it’s because I’m there – live and in color – sharing content and hoping to engage you.  It’s how I roll.

How about you?

Tagged as: Community, Cross Posting, Engagement, Relationship, Social Media