Cross-Post

What Does Cross-Post Mean?

The practice of cross-posting involves posting a single message or piece of content to multiple destinations. This can be to different threads or subsections of a common platform, or two different platforms. Cross-posting brings a single message to a wider audience by diversifying where that message is placed.

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A cross-post is also known as a cross-page post.

Techopedia Explains Cross-Post

Some technologies allow for cross-platform cross-posting. For example, an app might allow users to pose a message simultaneously on a proprietary site, and also on Facebook, Twitter or Craigslist. It is relatively easy to set up software with APIs that allow for cross-posting.

However, the practice has generated a wider discussion about the benefits and drawbacks of cross-posting. On one hand, as mentioned, that message makes its way to a larger audience. On the other hand, some argue that cross-posting tends to “devalue” a message in some ways – if it is all over the place, it is no longer unique or essential to a particular platform thread. Think of each individual message posted on social media as an opener to a conversation – if the exact same opener is seen in multiple places, there may be less of a chance for people to develop a conversation around it – they may ignore it, thinking that it is a kind of generic or automated message, rather than taking it as an individual instance of an online interaction.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…