Mastering the Art of Content Recycling – Repurposing Social Media Content
Welcome to the next level of your social journey! A common question we get here at The Pinnergrammer is: “How does reposting actually work? Am I sharing others’ work, or making my own?”
If you’ve been feeling a little stuck on the “how-to“, this guide is for you. Let’s break down the difference between curating, repurposing, and the secret power of recycling your own high-performing content.
1. Curation vs. Recreating: What’s the Difference?
The magic of a theme page lies in curation. You don’t need to be a one-person production studio to grow a massive audience.
- Sharing (Curation): This concept of sharing is where you find engaging, high quality and top performing photos, reels or posts from other creators. These posts usually alight with your theme or audience. Share them with your audience.
- Recreating (Repurposing): This involves taking a core message or concept and giving it a fresh visual twist to match your unique brand identity. For example, you might take a viral quote and turn it into a sleek carousel using your brand’s specific colors and fonts.
2. The Ethics of Crediting
We believe in building the right community over competition. So when you look at sharing another creator’s content crediting their work is mandatory.
Here is how to credit others correctly:
- Attribution Badges: Many third-party apps allow you to add a small icon with the original creator’s handle directly onto the image or video
- Caption Tags: Always tag the original creator clearly in your caption
- Clear Disclaimers: If the source is unclear, add a disclaimer acknowledging that the content belongs to the respective owner
- Ethical Guidelines for Content Sharing
- Seek Permission: Direct message or email the creator to ask if you can share their work, especially if you have a commercial brand.
- Give Clear Credit: Tag the user’s handle (
@username) in the photo/video and the caption. - Use Stories for Reposts: A good compromise is to share content to your Stories rather than your permanent feed, which makes it clear it is not your original work.
- Do Not Edit: Keep the content exactly as it was originally posted.
- Check for Copyrighted Content: Be careful with educational or paid content (e.g., courses), which are often protected by copyright.
- Use Reposting Tools: On platforms like Instagram, use official reposting tools that handle attribution properly.
Is it ethical to reshare other peoples content on social media?
Resharing other people’s content on social media is considered ethical, provided it is done with proper attribution, respect for the creator, in compliance with platform rules and within the intended functionality of the platform (e.g., retweeting, sharing to stories.
When done correctly, sharing helps creators gain visibility, but when done incorrectly, it can be viewed as theft, plagiarism, or a violation of intellectual property.
3. The New Way to Share: Modern Techniques
Instagram has made it easier than ever to curate content ethically.
- The Reshare Button: Use the Instagram “reshare to Story” setting for a quick, native way to share content about other creators, whilst also putting your spin on it.
- Remixing: You can also “Remix” a creator’s Reel, which allows you to add your own perspective while keeping their original video as the foundation.
4. Why You Should Recycle Your Own Content
One of the best-kept secrets of some of the top social media creators is that they constantly recycle their own posts.
If you had a post that performed amazingly, but a couple of months have gone by, post it again! Why? There is no harm in this. Remember that social media is crowded as ever, and your audience is busy and likely forgot, or didn’t see it at all!. You might have new followers as well, which means they most likely haven’t even seen it.
This leverages the Mere Exposure Effect: a psychological phenomenon where people develop a preference for things simply because they are familiar with them. Familiarity breeds liking, and repeating your expertise only makes your message stronger.
5. Understanding the Three Rs
To keep your strategy sharp, remember these definitions:
- Reposting: Directly re-uploading the exact same piece of content
- Reusing: Taking a concept or idea that you saw be successful, giving it a slight tweak or copy change with a fresh heading and caption
- Repurposing: Transforming an idea into a completely new format, like turning a Reel script into an educational carousel or Threads post
Remember: Building a theme page is a marathon, not a sprint. Focus on providing value, stay consistent with your branding, and don’t be afraid to let your “best hits” play more than once!
