Cross-Posting Facebook Stories

Facebook and Instagram are introducing the ability to cross-post stories on both platforms. If this is successful, it will make cross-platform users happy while simultaneously cutting down on regular posting times.

This is particularly important as social media managers and users spend a lot of time on content creation, sometimes even on duplicate content creation. With more stories available on Instagram, the algorithms will be able to do a better job of ranking what to show first.

The Origins of Cross-Posting

The change could be an invasive move by Facebook on Instagram. After all, Instagram’s co-founder left the company in 2018, and since then their autonomy has been almost nonexistent.

Facebook already passed its “From Facebook” sign on Instagram’s title screen and on the app’s loading screen. If you look in the settings menu, you’ll find a button that says “Open Facebook.”

In October 2017, Instagram allowed Facebook to experiment with cross-posting stories, largely because Instagram wanted to spread its unique content. Back then, Facebook stories, Instagram stories, and statuses on WhatsApp all pulled in about 500 million views daily; Snapchat, in comparison, only had 218 million daily users.

When you take a photo or video for your Facebook story and then go to post it, you can review the privacy of the image and see who you're sharing it with. At present, you are able to share stories with the public and friends; there are also customization options where you can hide stories from certain users. Eventually, there will be a Facebook-Instagram sharing toggle, and it appears that this feature will be what allows for cross-posting.

According to a company spokesperson, Facebook is pursuing the future of cross-posting because they want users to have better connectivity with those they care about. Users may have different followings on Facebook then they do on Instagram, and cross-posting will simply allow users more customization and flexibility when it comes to posting stories.

The most recent cross-posting model is currently being tested by users and is expected to hit the mainstream once all the bugs have been worked out.

The syncing of Facebook with Instagram, as far as stories are concerned, is viewed favorably by a lot of individuals.

How Many Doors Could Cross-Posting Open?

Just think about what could happen if cross-posting of Instagram-Facebook stories becomes a wild success; it’s likely we’d then see Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram’s direct messages all incorporated in some way with Facebook.

Many users view this merge as a big win because it could help with the encryption process, which protects users’ messages and posts from being accessed by nefarious actors. Of course, there's been a lot of talk about this in the government, and specifically officials want to know how encryption will be able to hide the activities of criminals.

It’s also true that many government officials around the world are not interested in seeing Facebook gaining any more strength, and this is leading many officials and regulators to call for the breakup of the world’s largest and most popular social media giant.

To launch your social media marketing strategy, book a consultation with the Facebook and Instagram specialists at Rizzo Young Marketing LLC.