# How to post on all social media at once, and adapt each post

Canonical: https://postmesh.app/blog/how-to-cross-post-to-multiple-platforms

By PostMesh team. Published 2026-10-26; updated 2026-10-31.

Connect every account to a scheduler, write one main post, give the strict networks their own shorter version, attach media that fits them all, then post or schedule it everywhere in one step. Limits run from 280 characters on X to 63,206 on Facebook Pages, so one caption rarely fits everywhere unchanged.

Cross-posting means publishing the same update on several networks. Done well, it saves hours a week. Done badly, it puts a 2,000-character LinkedIn essay on X, a watermarked TikTok on Instagram, and a hashtag wall on Threads where only one tag counts. This guide covers the three ways to post everywhere, the numbers that decide whether one post fits each network, how to adapt a post without rewriting it eight times, Meta's built-in sharing between Instagram, Facebook and Threads, and what to do when a cross-post fails on one network.

## The short answer

If you post to two Meta apps, Meta's own sharing between Instagram and Facebook or Threads may be all you need. For three or more networks, use a scheduler that connects them all, so you write once, see each network's limit while you type, and send or schedule to every account together. Posting by hand still makes sense for formats no tool can send, like Stories or polls.

**Where does your post need to go?**
- Instagram plus Facebook, or Instagram plus Threads → Meta's own sharing: Accounts Center, or Share to Threads when you post.
- Three or more networks, including X, LinkedIn, TikTok or YouTube → A scheduler that posts to all of them, with a version per network where needed.
- A Story, poll, carousel or thread → Post that one by hand in each app. Most tools can't send every format.
- One network, once in a while → Post it in the app. Cross-posting tools pay off with volume.

*Meta's sharing options from Meta's Accounts Center help and Threads' official account.*

|  | By hand | Meta's own sharing | A scheduler such as PostMesh |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Networks | Any | Instagram, Facebook, Threads | Instagram, Facebook Pages, Threads, Reddit, X, LinkedIn, YouTube and TikTok |
| Different text per network | Yes, you retype | The same post is shared | One main caption plus a version for any network |
| Checks limits first | No | No | File type, size and caption length for every network |
| Scheduling | No | No scheduler of its own | Up to 30 days ahead |
| Formats | Everything each app offers | Posts and stories | One photo or one video per post, or text where allowed |
| Cost | Free | Free | From $29 a month after a 7-day trial |

- 280: characters on X, with links counted as 23 each
- 500: characters on Threads, with emoji counted as UTF-8 bytes
- 2,200: characters in an Instagram caption, with up to 5 hashtags and 20 mentions
- 63,206: characters in a Facebook Page post

*From X's and Meta's docs and help pages and the limits PostMesh checks.*

## What does cross-posting actually mean?

People use the word for four different things, and they work differently:

- The identical post everywhere: one caption and one file, pasted into every app. Fast, but it breaks on the strict networks and reads as pasted in on the others.
- One idea, adapted: the same media and message, with each network's version fitted to its limits and habits. This guide is mostly about this one.
- Native sharing: a network sharing your post to a sister app for you, like Instagram to Facebook. Built in, but limited to Meta's apps and the same caption.
- The same post on several accounts of one network: for example, a brand account and a founder's account on X. Give each account its own wording; the guide to [cross-posting and engagement](/blog/does-cross-posting-hurt-engagement) covers what X's rules say about identical posts across accounts.

Whichever you do, the goal is a post that looks like it was made for each network, because people on each network see only their version.

## Why doesn't one caption fit every network?

Because the limits are far apart, and some networks count differently. These are the text limits PostMesh checks before it publishes; the [social media character limits](/blog/social-media-character-limits) guide covers each in more detail.

| Network | Text limit | Also limited |
| --- | --- | --- |
| X | 280 characters | Emoji and CJK count as 2, links as 23 |
| Threads | 500 characters | One topic tag per post, 5 links at most |
| Instagram | 2,200 characters | 5 hashtags and 20 mentions; needs a photo or video |
| TikTok | 2,200 characters (video caption) | Photo posts: title 90, description 4,000 |
| LinkedIn | 3,000 characters | Posts from PostMesh are public |
| Reddit | Title 300, body 40,000 characters | Needs a title and a community, or your profile |
| Facebook Pages | 63,206 characters | Text, one photo or one video |
| YouTube | Title 100 characters, description 5,000 bytes | Up to 15 tags in PostMesh; needs a video |

A 600-character LinkedIn post fits Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, is too long for Threads and more than twice the limit on X. The fix isn't to cut everything to 280. It's to keep one full caption and write short versions only where they're needed.

### How X counts

X's developer docs on [counting characters](https://docs.x.com/fundamentals/counting-characters) weight the count. Most Latin letters count as 1, every emoji counts as 2, Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters count as 2, and every link counts as 23 however long it is. A caption with three links and four emoji spends 77 characters on those alone, so leave room on X.

### How Threads counts

Meta's [Threads posts guide](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/threads/posts/) limits text posts to 500 characters and counts emoji as their UTF-8 bytes, so a single smiley can cost 4. The same guide allows only one topic tag per post, between 1 and 50 characters, and posts with more than 5 links fail from December 22, 2025.

### Titles are separate

Three networks want a title on top of the body. Reddit's title holds up to 300 characters, a YouTube title 100, and a TikTok photo post's title 90. In PostMesh, a Reddit title starts as the first line of your caption, so write that line to work as a headline. For YouTube, write a title that describes the video itself rather than copying the caption's opening line.

## How do I adapt one post for each network?

Adapting doesn't mean writing eight posts. It means keeping one idea and one piece of media, then adjusting the length, the first line and the extras for each network.

1. **Write the strictest version first**: Start with X's 280 characters. If the idea works there, it works everywhere, and every longer version grows from it.
2. **Expand for the roomy networks**: Add context for LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, where you have 2,200 characters or more.
3. **Rewrite the first line, not just the length**: Lead with what readers learn on LinkedIn, what viewers will see on Instagram and TikTok, and a headline written for the community on Reddit.
4. **Fit the hashtags to each network**: A handful on Instagram, well under its 30, one topic tag on Threads, tags in YouTube's tag field rather than the title.
5. **Check every mention**: An @handle points to a different account, or nobody, on each network. Swap in the right handle or a plain name.
6. **Add what each network needs**: A title and community for Reddit, a title for YouTube, and who can watch for TikTok.

1. Write the 280-character version
2. Expand it for LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok
3. Rewrite the first line for each audience
4. Trim hashtags and fix @mentions per network
5. Add titles, communities and TikTok settings

*Limits from the networks' developer docs and PostMesh's network pages.*

### Formats that don't cross over

Some formats exist on one network only, or can't be sent by a scheduler. Plan these as separate posts:

- Stories on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Meta's Accounts Center can share stories between Instagram and Facebook; PostMesh doesn't post Stories anywhere.
- Carousels and multi-image posts. PostMesh sends one photo per post to Instagram, Facebook, Threads, X, LinkedIn and Reddit; only TikTok photo posts hold more, up to 35 images, and they go to TikTok alone.
- Threads of several posts on X or Threads, and polls on any network.
- LinkedIn documents and articles, YouTube Community posts and live streams.

### Hashtags on each network

| Network | Rule to follow |
| --- | --- |
| Instagram | Up to 5 hashtags per post, per Instagram's help center (Meta's API reference still lists 30), and 20 @ mentions |
| Threads | One topic tag per post, 1 to 50 characters; only the first valid tag becomes the topic |
| YouTube | Tags go in their own field, sharing a 500-character budget; PostMesh sends up to 15 |
| X, LinkedIn, Facebook, TikTok, Reddit | No separate hashtag cap in the limits PostMesh checks; hashtags count toward the text limit |

A caption written for Instagram with 15 hashtags will carry 14 that do nothing on Threads and eat a fifth of X's limit. Give those networks their own version with one or two tags, or none. The [hashtag generator](/tools/hashtag-generator) suggests a short, relevant set to start from.

### Captions on video-first networks

On TikTok, Reels and Shorts the video does the work and the caption supports it. TikTok allows 2,200 characters, counted by PostMesh in UTF-16 units, where a single family emoji costs 11. YouTube splits the job between a title of 100 characters and a description of 5,000 bytes, where accented letters and emoji take more than one byte each. For these networks, write a short caption that adds what the video can't show, such as a name, a price or a link, rather than repeating what viewers can see.

### Mentions and tags

Handles aren't shared between networks. A brand that's @acme on Instagram might be @acmehq on X and have no account on Reddit. Before you cross-post a caption with mentions, look up each handle on each network, or write the name without the @ where you can't confirm it. Instagram caps a caption at 20 @ mentions, and PostMesh counts them before it sends.

### Links

On X every link costs 23 characters. On Threads, more than 5 links make the post fail. On Reddit, a PostMesh post whose body is only a link becomes a link post. To see which network sends you clicks, give each version its own tagged link with the [UTM builder](/tools/utm-builder).

## What size should photos and videos be for every network?

Media decides which networks can take a post at all. These are the limits that matter, from each network's developer docs and PostMesh's network pages.

| Network | Shape | Files through PostMesh |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Instagram | Photos 4:5 to 1.91:1; Reels any ratio, 9:16 recommended | One photo, or one video of 3 seconds to 15 minutes up to 300 MB |
| TikTok | 360 to 4,096 pixels a side, 23 to 60 fps | One video of 3 seconds to 10 minutes up to 4 GB, or up to 35 photos (TikTok only) |
| YouTube | Square or vertical up to 3 minutes counts as a Short | One video up to 256 GB |
| LinkedIn | Video between 1:2.4 and 2.4:1 | One image up to 20 MB, or one video of 3 seconds to 30 minutes up to 200 MB |
| Threads | Images up to 10:1, 320 to 1,440 pixels wide | One photo up to 8 MB, or one video of 1 second to 5 minutes up to 1 GB |
| Facebook Pages | Not limited by PostMesh | One photo up to 10 MB, or one video up to 1 GB |
| X | Up to 4 photos in X's own apps | One image: photos up to 5 MB, GIFs up to 15 MB. No video. |
| Reddit | Not limited by PostMesh | One image up to 20 MB. No video. |

For export sizes, PostMesh's own resizing tools use 1,080 by 1,350 for an Instagram or Threads portrait post, 1,080 by 1,920 for a vertical TikTok cover, 1,600 by 900 for a wide X post, 1,200 by 627 for LinkedIn and 1,200 by 630 for Facebook. Those are canvases that work, not hard minimums; the [social media image sizes](/blog/social-media-image-sizes) guide lists them with each network's guidance, and the [Instagram photo resizer](/tools/instagram-photo-resizer) crops to Instagram's shapes in your browser.

### One video that fits six networks

A vertical 9:16 MP4 between 3 seconds and 3 minutes, under 200 MB, fits every network that takes video from PostMesh. It's a Reel on Instagram, a Short on YouTube, a TikTok video, a Facebook Page video, a Threads video under its 5-minute cap and a LinkedIn video inside both its ratio range and PostMesh's 200 MB limit. X and Reddit don't take video from PostMesh, so give them a still image or a text post that points to the video.

**What media is your post?**
- A vertical video, 3 seconds to 3 minutes, under 200 MB → Fits Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Threads and LinkedIn. Give X and Reddit an image or text.
- A longer video, 5 to 10 minutes → Fine on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn under 200 MB, and TikTok if your account allows the length. A regular video on YouTube; too long for Threads.
- One photo → Fits Instagram, Facebook, Threads, X, LinkedIn and Reddit. YouTube needs a video, and a TikTok photo post goes to TikTok on its own.
- No media → Fine on X, Threads, LinkedIn, Facebook and Reddit. Instagram, TikTok and YouTube need media.

*From PostMesh's network pages and YouTube Help's Shorts page.*

Export one clean master with no other app's watermark. If the video was made in TikTok, save the original from your editor rather than downloading it from TikTok. The [Instagram Reel size guide](/blog/instagram-reel-size) covers Instagram's shapes in detail.

## Can I cross-post without a tool?

Yes, between Meta's apps. Meta builds sharing into Instagram, Facebook and Threads, so a post on one can appear on another automatically. It shares the same post as is, so it won't shorten a caption or change a format, and it only covers Meta's networks.

### Instagram and Facebook through Accounts Center

Meta's [Accounts Center help](https://www.meta.com/help/accounts-center/469011081363524/) says the accounts must be in the same Accounts Center. Then open Connected experiences, select Sharing across profiles, choose the profile to share from and the profile to share to, and turn Automatically share on.

Meta Accounts Center: Connected experiences › Sharing across profiles › Share from, share to › Automatically share

*From Meta's Accounts Center help. Both accounts must be in the same Accounts Center.*

- Instagram to Facebook: if you have a personal Facebook profile and one or more Pages, you choose which one receives your Instagram posts. They go there until you change it.
- Facebook to Instagram: only posts and stories from your personal Facebook profile can be shared. Posts from Facebook Pages you manage can't.
- Meta's page covers posts and stories. Facebook's [crossposting page for creators](https://creators.facebook.com/tools/crossposting) adds Reels, set up from an Instagram creator or business profile, where you choose which post types to share, and says eligible accounts can use monetization on both apps.

### Instagram to Threads

Threads' official account explained in June 2024 that when you create a feed post on Instagram, you can turn on Share to Threads, either for that post or for all future ones. Meta's Accounts Center page notes that Threads isn't available everywhere and not every connected experience works with it, so if the option is missing, check that both apps are up to date and that your accounts are in the same Accounts Center.

> Native sharing shares the post you made; it doesn't write a separate caption for each network. A caption built for Instagram, hashtags and all, is what your Facebook or Threads audience gets. If the audiences differ, a separate post with its own caption usually reads better.

### When native sharing isn't enough

Meta's sharing stops at Meta's apps, and even there it has gaps: posts from a Facebook Page can't be shared to Instagram, and nothing reaches X, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube or Reddit. It also can't give Threads a shorter caption or each network its own first line. Once you post to three or more networks, or want different text on each, a scheduler does what native sharing can't.

## How do I post to all of them at once with PostMesh?

PostMesh publishes to Instagram, Facebook Pages, Threads, Reddit, X, LinkedIn, YouTube and TikTok. All eight use their official APIs. You write one caption, give any network its own version, and post now or schedule up to 30 days ahead. See every network PostMesh supports on the [platform page](/platform).

1. **Connect your accounts**: Use each network's own sign-in. PostMesh never asks for or stores your passwords.
2. **Open New post**: Pick every account the post should go to.
3. **Write the main caption**: Then open a network's own version wherever it needs different text, for example a shorter one for X or Threads.
4. **Add one photo or one video**: Or keep it text only, if none of the networks you picked need media.
5. **Fill in the extras**: A title and community for Reddit, a title and tags for YouTube, and who can watch and the other settings for TikTok.
6. **Read the checks**: File type, size and caption length are checked for every network before you send, so you see which account needs a fix while you can still change it.
7. **Post now or schedule**: Choose Post now, or turn on Schedule and pick a time up to 30 days ahead. PostMesh sends it within a minute of that time.
8. **Check each result**: Posts shows each account's result. Retry sends again only to the accounts that failed.

- While you write: Each network's caption length, file type and size are checked against its own limit
- When you schedule: One post holds every account and each network's version, up to 30 days ahead
- Every minute: PostMesh checks its queue for posts that are due
- At the time you picked: Each account gets its own version
- Afterward: Posts shows a result per account, and Retry resends only to the ones that failed

*From PostMesh's network pages.*

### What PostMesh checks before it sends

- Caption length for every network you picked, plus Instagram's hashtag and mention counts.
- File type and size against each network's limit, so a 250 MB video is flagged for LinkedIn before it fails there.
- Whether a network needs media, like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, or can't take a video, like X and Reddit.
- Reddit community rules such as required flair and allowed post types, before it posts.
- TikTok's required choice of who can watch, set on every post.

### Several accounts on the same network

Pick every account you want in New post: two Instagram accounts, three Facebook Pages, several YouTube channels. Each Facebook Page you allow during sign-in becomes its own account, and a video picked for several YouTube channels uploads to each. Every account counts toward your plan's connected-account limit: 10 on Creator, 50 on Growth and unlimited on Pro.

### What each network gets from PostMesh

| Network | What you can send | Not supported yet |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Instagram | One photo or one Reel | Text-only posts, carousels, Stories |
| Facebook Pages | Text, one photo or one video | Personal profiles, multi-photo posts, Reels, Stories |
| Threads | Text, one photo or one video | Carousels, multi-post threads, polls |
| Reddit | Text, a link or one image, with title and flair | Video, galleries, polls |
| X | Text, or text with one image | Video, several images, threads, polls |
| LinkedIn | Text, one image or one video, to a personal profile | Company Pages, documents, articles, polls |
| YouTube | A video or Short, with title, tags and thumbnail | Unlisted videos, playlists, live streams |
| TikTok | One video, or up to 35 photos (TikTok only) | Stories, TikTok's music library |

You can try the checks without an account: paste a caption into the free [post checker](/tools/post-checker) to see how it fares against every network's limit. PostMesh has no free plan; Creator is $29 a month with 10 connected accounts, Growth $49 with 50, and Pro $99 with unlimited accounts, all with unlimited publishing to all 8 networks and a 7-day free trial for new subscribers. See [pricing](/pricing).

## Does cross-posting hurt engagement?

Posting your own work on several networks isn't what the networks penalize. Facebook's creator blog on [unoriginal content](https://creators.facebook.com/blog/combating-unoriginal-content), from July 2025, says you can share the same content across any of your own Pages or profiles. What it limits is reusing other creators' content without credit: accounts that keep doing it can lose monetization for a time and see their reach reduced, and duplicate copies of someone else's video get less distribution so the original creator gets the views.

- Watermarks: the same blog advises against clear third-party watermarks, and says adding your own watermark doesn't count as a meaningful change to someone else's video.
- Other people's clips: TikTok's developer guidelines give an app that copies arbitrary content from other platforms to TikTok as an example of what isn't acceptable.
- Your own videos: exporting a clean master and posting it natively on each network is the safe pattern.

For what Instagram, YouTube, X and Reddit each say, read [does cross-posting hurt engagement](/blog/does-cross-posting-hurt-engagement). The short version: post your own work, without another app's watermark, adapted to each network.

## Should I post at the same time on every network?

Not necessarily. The studies summarized in our best-time guides for [Instagram](/blog/best-time-to-post-on-instagram), [TikTok](/blog/best-time-to-post-on-tiktok), [LinkedIn](/blog/best-time-to-post-on-linkedin), [YouTube](/blog/best-time-to-post-on-youtube) and [Facebook](/blog/best-time-to-post-on-facebook) found different peaks for each network. Posting everywhere at once is simplest and suits news or launches. Staggering, for example LinkedIn in the morning and TikTok in the evening, suits evergreen posts. A sale that ends at midnight or a time-sensitive announcement is a case for one time everywhere.

In PostMesh, one post has one time for every account you pick. To stagger, make one post per time slot and pick the networks for each. Your own numbers beat any study after a few weeks, so note when each version went out and how it did.

## By hand, Meta's sharing or a scheduler?

**By hand**
- Every format, including Stories and polls
- Free, but you retype and re-upload each time
- No checks before you post
- Good for one or two networks

**Meta's sharing**
- Instagram to Facebook or Threads automatically
- Free and built in
- Same caption everywhere
- Meta's apps only

**PostMesh**
- 8 networks from one post
- A version per network, checked first
- Scheduled up to 30 days ahead
- One photo or video per post; no Stories

*From Meta's Accounts Center help and PostMesh's network pages.*

Most people end up mixing them. Stories and polls by hand, Instagram-to-Facebook sharing switched on for photos, and a scheduler for the posts that go to five or more networks each week. If you're weighing tools, [the best free social media schedulers](/blog/best-free-social-media-schedulers) and [scheduler or management platform](/blog/social-media-scheduler-vs-management-platform) are good next reads, and our [Hootsuite comparison](/compare/hootsuite-alternative) shows prices for the same number of accounts.

## What goes wrong when cross-posting, and how do I fix it?

| Problem | Why it happens | Fix |
| --- | --- | --- |
| It worked on most networks but failed on one | That network rejected the caption, file or connection | Fix that network's version and retry only that account |
| Caption too long for X or Threads | One caption sent to networks with very different limits | Give X and Threads their own shorter version |
| Instagram, TikTok or YouTube can't take the post | It's text only, and they need media | Add a photo or video, or leave them out of that post |
| X or Reddit can't take the video | PostMesh sends them text or one image | Give them an image or text post pointing to the video |
| Hashtags show as plain text on Threads | Threads uses only one topic tag | Give Threads a version with one tag |
| A mention tags the wrong account | Handles differ between networks | Check each handle, or use a plain name |
| Reddit wouldn't post | The community requires flair or doesn't allow that post type | Pick a flair, switch post type, or choose another community |
| TikTok post waiting in your inbox | TikTok asked you to finish it in the app | Open TikTok and post it from your inbox |

### One network failed, the rest worked

Each account gets its own result in PostMesh's Posts view. Don't resend the whole post, or the networks where it worked will get a duplicate. Read the failed account's error, fix that network's version or file, and use Retry, which sends again only to the accounts that failed.

### The media was rejected on one network

Usually the file is fine for most networks and outside one network's limit: a 6-minute video is too long for Threads, a 250 MB video too big for LinkedIn through PostMesh, a 9 MB photo too big for Threads. PostMesh checks file type and size before you send, so the composer flags these first. Either export a version that fits every network, or leave the strict network out of that post and give it its own.

### The caption looked short enough for X

X counts every link as 23 characters and every emoji as 2, so a caption that shows 270 characters in a plain counter can be over 280 on X. PostMesh's check counts each character once, which is looser than X's weighting for emoji, so leave room yourself when X's version carries several emoji. Trim a line, drop an emoji, or keep the extra links for the networks with room.

### The time zone looked wrong

A cross-post goes out at one moment, which is a different local time for each audience. If your LinkedIn followers are in London and your TikTok viewers in Los Angeles, 9 a.m. for one is 1 a.m. for the other. Split the post into two time slots if the gap matters.

## A worked example: one launch on eight networks

Say you're announcing a new product with a 30-second vertical video, a still image from it and a link to the product page. Here's one way to cover every network, using only the limits above.

- Main caption (about 600 characters): what the product is, who it's for, the launch price and the link. It goes to Facebook and LinkedIn with the video, and to TikTok with the video and its settings.
- Instagram: the main caption plus five hashtags, the most Instagram's help center allows. The video goes out as a Reel.
- YouTube: the video as a Short, with a 60-character title that says what the product does, a two-paragraph description with the link, and a few tags in the tag field.
- Threads: a 300-character version with one topic tag and the video.
- X: X doesn't take video from PostMesh, so it goes in a second post with the still image and a 240-character version, link included at 23 characters.
- Reddit: only in a community where launches are allowed, in that second post or its own, with a title written for the community and flair if required.

That's two posts in PostMesh: a video post for six networks with a few network versions, and an image post for X and Reddit. Before you send, paste the main caption into the [Instagram caption counter](/tools/instagram-caption-character-counter) and the short ones into the [Threads](/tools/threads-character-counter) and [X](/tools/twitter-character-counter) counters, or check all of them at once with the post checker. A week later, compare how each version did. PostMesh shows the numbers networks share for posts it sent: impressions, likes, replies and reposts on X; views, likes, replies and reposts on Threads; reactions, comments and shares on Facebook; likes and comments on Instagram; score and comments on Reddit; views, likes and comments on YouTube. LinkedIn posts have no metrics in PostMesh, so check those in the app.

## What should I check before posting everywhere?

**Before you cross-post**
- [ ] X's version is 280 characters or fewer, counting links as 23
- [ ] Threads' version is under 500 with one topic tag
- [ ] Instagram's caption has 5 hashtags or fewer and 20 mentions or fewer
- [ ] Every @mention is the right handle on that network
- [ ] The media fits every network you picked, or the strict ones have their own post
- [ ] Reddit has a title, community and flair; YouTube a title; TikTok its settings
- [ ] The video is a clean master without another app's watermark

*Each item matches a limit from the networks' docs or PostMesh's network pages.*

For each network's own scheduler and its quirks, see the guides to scheduling [Instagram posts](/blog/how-to-schedule-instagram-posts), [tweets](/blog/how-to-schedule-tweets), [LinkedIn posts](/blog/how-to-schedule-linkedin-posts), [TikTok videos](/blog/how-to-schedule-tiktok-videos) and [YouTube videos](/blog/how-to-schedule-youtube-videos). Network-specific details are on PostMesh's pages for [Instagram](/platform/instagram), [Threads](/platform/threads), [X](/platform/twitter) and [Reddit](/platform/reddit).

## Questions

### Is there a way to post to all social media at once for free?

Meta's own sharing links Instagram, Facebook and Threads at no cost. For X, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube and Reddit as well, you need a scheduler or posting by hand.

### Can I give each network a different caption?

Yes. In PostMesh you write one main caption, then give any network its own version, such as a shorter one for X.

### Which network has the shortest limit?

X, at 280 characters with links counted as 23 and emoji as 2. Threads is next at 500.

### Does posting the same thing everywhere get penalized?

Facebook says you can share your own content across your Pages and profiles. What gets limited is reusing other people's content and visible watermarks from other apps.

### How do I share Instagram posts to Facebook automatically?

Put both accounts in the same Accounts Center, then open Connected experiences, Sharing across profiles, pick the accounts and turn on Automatically share.

### Can Facebook Page posts be shared to Instagram automatically?

No. Meta's Accounts Center help says only posts and stories from a personal Facebook profile can be shared to Instagram.

### What video works on every network?

A vertical MP4 from 3 seconds to 3 minutes, under 200 MB, fits Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Facebook, Threads and LinkedIn through PostMesh. X and Reddit don't take video from PostMesh.

### What happens if a post fails on one network?

Each account gets its own result in Posts. Retry sends again only to the accounts that failed.

### Can I schedule a cross-post?

Yes. In PostMesh, turn on Schedule and pick a time up to 30 days ahead; every account you picked gets it at that time.

### Can I cross-post Stories?

Meta's Accounts Center can share stories between Instagram and Facebook. PostMesh doesn't post Stories to any network.

## Sources

- [Instagram Help Center: Use hashtags on Instagram](https://help.instagram.com/351460621611097)

- [X Developer Platform: Counting characters](https://docs.x.com/fundamentals/counting-characters)

- [X Developer Platform: Media best practices](https://docs.x.com/x-api/media/quickstart/best-practices)

- [Meta for Developers: Instagram API reference, IG User Media](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/instagram-platform/instagram-graph-api/reference/ig-user/media)

- [Meta for Developers: Threads API, posts](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/threads/posts/)

- [YouTube Data API: Videos resource](https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3/docs/videos)

- [YouTube Help: Understand three-minute YouTube Shorts](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/15424877?hl=en)

- [LinkedIn Help: Video sharing troubleshooting](https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a548372)

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