Social Media Managers: STOP stealing people's content

Whether you call yourself a social media manager or manage social media as part of your role at a business, you must stop stealing people's content. 

But I'm not!

Are you sure?

We often experience businesses 'stealing' our content from one of the influencer accounts we manage. What do we mean by 'stealing'?

Here's an example:

• Account has 20k+ local followers with high engagement 
• The account posts a picture of a meal they had (and paid for) as part of a carousel
• The account tags the restaurant where said meal was had, along with the other businesses featured
• The restaurant where said meal was had doesn't engage with the original post but does cherry-pick part of the caption, screenshot the image and uses the account's influence to post on their own social media
• The restaurant does tag the account in the caption but does not ask for permission to alter and then use the content

That is stealing content. It doesn't matter that the restaurant has tagged the original account in the caption because they haven't actually credited the account properly, and the fact that they've altered the original content makes it even worse.

If we were being really pedantic, the restaurant's posts makes it look like the account we manage didn't claim to receive a gifted meal or payment, which goes against advertising standards. We didn't; we paid for the meal.

It doesn't matter if the account has 20k+ followers or 200 followers. If you want to use someone else's content, particularly on the grid, you must ask for permission. 

So what do I do? You say thank you for tagging the business, you tell them you're glad they enjoyed their visit, and you ask for permission; it's as simple as that. The worst someone can say is no.

Okay, so what about sharing stuff to stories? Do I have to ask for permission? Stories are slightly different. If you share a post directly to stories, the crediting already exists, but it's a good idea to tag the user's account as they'll be notified. They may even share again to their story.

If you download/screenshot someone else's content and share it in stories so that it gives the impression that it's your content, then you're stealing.

If your strategy relies on UGC, you must be over-cautious about using people's content.

Engaging with everyone who tags your accounts really doesn't hurt. A simple thank you for sharing/tagging us goes an incredibly long way. If you're not doing this, the UGC will dry up, and suddenly, you'll be left with a big content gap.

This blog post is written by people who have experience on both sides.

From the perspective of a social media manager, reaching out to everyone who tags is time-consuming, but a simple like goes a long way if you're short on time.

From the perspective of a content creator whose content has been used without their permission. We will no longer feature that business for free and it's left a sour taste. 

From the perspective of people who have worked in this industry for 10 years. It doesn't matter if it's not a professional social media manager running the account; if you're running social media for a business, there are no excuses, there HAS to be a level of professionalism, and you have to be aware of rules and simple manners.

So, the next time you want to use someone else's content, please ask them for permission. It's not hard.