social-publisher

# Social Publisher — The Operator's Desk for Distribution *Decide the **when, where, how-often, and what-shape** of social distribution, then hand back a dated, schedulable calendar. You own the mechanics of getting one idea onto many channels in each channel's native shape — not the voice it speaks in, not the article it came from, not the video edit.* This skill takes a source asset and a set of channels and produces three things: a per-platform **cadence + best-time grid**, a **repurposing matrix** that reshapes one idea into native variants, and a **dated content calendar** (CSV/JSON/Markdown) a human or a scheduler (Buffer, Hootsuite, Mixpost, Postiz) can import. The deliverable is always the artifact — a calendar with rows you can act on — not a paragraph of advice. ## When to use / When NOT Use when: - Building a weekly or monthly posting schedule across multiple platforms. - Deciding posting frequency and best-time slots per platform. - Repurposing one asset (blog, video, webinar, podcast) into native posts for several channels. - Producing a schedulable artifact (CSV/calendar) for a scheduler or for hand-off. - Checking per-platform limits before programmatic publishing (char caps, media specs, API publish/rate limits, approval gates). Do NOT use when (route to the sibling that owns it): | You actually want | Go to | | --- | --- | | The brand's tone-of-voice / verbal identity the posts must sound like | `../brand-voice/SKILL.md` | | To write the long-form source article the posts are sliced from | `../article-writing/SKILL.md` | | The editorial strategy of *what topics* to make this quarter | `../content-engine/SKILL.md` | | To script/edit the Reel or Short (hook, cuts, captions burn-in) | `../video-shorts/SKILL.md` | | To reply to comments/DMs, moderate, grow the community | `../community/SKILL.md` | | To respond to and manage ratings/reviews | `../review-management/SKILL.md` | | To write/send the email newsletter issue itself | `../newsletter/SKILL.md` | | Keyword/topic research, getting cited by AI engines | `../seo-geo/SKILL.md` | | Paid social ads / boosted promotion | `../ads/SKILL.md` | | To generate the images/graphics in the posts | `../ai-media/SKILL.md` | If a brand voice spec exists, shape every post *in* it — load `../brand-voice/SKILL.md`. This skill schedules and reshapes; it does not invent the voice. ## The distribution mental model Four rules. Internalize them before you touch a calendar. 1. **One source asset → N native variants, never N copies.** Reshape language, length, hashtags, and format per channel — repurposing is reformatting, not copy-paste. One blog or long video commonly yields 7–10 short clips plus carousels and threads. Source: Buffer "Ultimate Guide to Repurposing Content"; Planable 2026 repurposing guide (accessed 2026-06-02). 2. **Aim for roughly one native-original post per two repurposed.** Repurposed content reportedly drives ~25–35% more engagement than one-off posts, but an all-repurposed feed reads stale — keep a ~1:2 native:repurposed mix so the account still feels alive. Source: InfluenceFlow / Planable 2026 (accessed 2026-06-02). 3. **Consistency beats raw frequency, and gaps are expensive.** A steady schedule outperforms bursts; a ~2-week gap after heavy posting can cut reach 30–50%. Plan a cadence you can actually sustain. Source: Sprout Social / Buffer / Metricool 2026 (accessed 2026-06-02). 4. **The deliverable is a schedulable artifact.** Always end at a dated calendar (rows: date, time, platform, format, body, status) — something a scheduler imports or a person executes. Advice without a calendar is a miss. The schema lives in `references/calendar-schema.md`; `scripts/verify.sh` lints what you emit. ## Cadence & best-time grid Per-platform 2026 frequency sweet spots and starting best-time slots. Source: Sprout Social / Buffer / Metricool best-time-to-post 2026 (accessed 2026-06-02). | Platform | Frequency (2026) | Best-time starting hypothesis | | --- | --- | --- | | Instagram (feed) | 3–5x/week | Tue–Wed 11am–1pm | | Instagram Stories | 1–2x/day | spread across the day | | Reels | 3–4x/week | best day Tuesday | | LinkedIn | 3–5x/week | Tue–Thu 11am–5pm (shifting later, outside office hours) | | X (Twitter) | 3–5x/day | ~9pm and Tue–Wed | | TikTok | 1–3x/day | test per account; volume tolerant | | Facebook | 3–5x/week | weekday mid-morning | **Caveat, not law:** these slots are starting hypotheses. The only authoritative times are in the account's own analytics — schedule to the table, then move slots toward where *that* audience actually engages. Never present these numbers as guarantees. ## Repurposing matrix Map source type to per-channel native output. Each cell is a *shape*, not the same text. | Source | X | LinkedIn | Instagram | Reel/Short/TikTok | Bluesky | Facebook | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Blog post | thread of the key claims | narrative post + takeaway | carousel of the steps | talking-head of the hook | short thread | summary + link in first comment | | Long video | clip + quote | lesson write-up | carousel of frames | 3–5 vertical cuts | quote post | native upload of one cut | | Webinar | live-thread highlights | recap + slides | quote-card carousel | best-moment clips | takeaway post | replay link | | Podcast | quote thread | episode notes | audiogram carousel | audiogram Shorts | quote post | episode card | Reshape the *same idea*, not the same string. Bad→Good: ```text Bad (same caption pasted to all four — flat, off-shape, link breaks IG): "New blog: 5 ways to cut cloud cost. Read here https://ex.co/cloud #cloud #devops" Good (native per channel): X thread → "5 ways we cut our cloud bill 38% in a quarter. 🧵" one tactic per post, link only in the last post. LinkedIn → "We cut our cloud bill 38% last quarter. The boring one that mattered most: rightsizing before reserving. Here's the order we did it in →" (3–5 short paras, no hashtag wall) Instagram → 6-slide carousel, one tactic per slide; link in bio; caption is the hook + 3–5 specific hashtags. Bluesky → short thread, plain link (no UTM-bloat), 1 tag max. ``` ## Channel-native shaping rules Quick reference; full specs and API reality in `references/platform-limits.md`. | Platform | Char cap | Hashtags | Links | Native trick | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | X | 280 (post) | 1–2 | inline, costs reach less than before | thread the long idea; hook in post 1 | | LinkedIn | ~3,000 | 0–3 | first comment, not body | "see more" cutoff ~210 chars — front-load the hook | | Instagram | 2,200 caption | 3–5 specific | bio / link sticker | first-comment for tags; carousel for depth | | Threads | 500 | light | inline ok | conversational, low-hashtag | | Bluesky | 300 | 1 max | plain inline | short threads; no algorithmic hashtag game | | TikTok | 2,200 caption | 3–5 | bio | hook in first 1–2s; caption supports, video carries | | Facebook | ~63k (keep short) | 0–2 | first comment if reach-sensitive | native video > shared link | Rule with a why: **put links in the first comment on LinkedIn/IG/FB** — link-in-body posts are commonly down-ranked, so keep the body clean and drop the URL below. **Front-load the hook** everywhere — LinkedIn truncates at ~210 chars and X shows post 1 only, so the first line decides the click. ## The content calendar artifact Every run ends here. Minimum columns: `date · time · timezone · platform · format · source_asset_id · hook · body · media_ref · link · hashtags · status` `status` lifecycle: `draft → scheduled → posted`. `source_asset_id` ties all rows derived from one source (the repurposing link), so you can see at a glance that one blog became six native posts. Markdown example (one source asset, two channels): ```text | date | time | tz | platform | format | source_asset_id | hook | status | | 2026-06-09 | 11:30 | Europe/Madrid | linkedin | post | blog-cloud-001 | We cut our cloud bill 38%… | scheduled | | 2026-06-09 | 21:00 | Europe/Madrid | x | thread | blog-cloud-001 | 5 ways we cut cloud cost 🧵 | scheduled | ``` JSON row (what a scheduler ingests): ```json { "date": "2026-06-09", "time": "21:00", "timezone": "Europe/Madrid", "platform": "x", "format": "thread", "source_asset_id": "blog-cloud-001", "hook": "5 ways we cut cloud cost 🧵", "body": "5 ways we cut our cloud bill 38% in a quarter…", "media_ref": null, "link": "https://ex.co/cloud", "hashtags": ["#cloud"], "status": "scheduled" } ``` Full column definitions, the CSV variant, and import notes for Buffer/Hootsuite/Mixpost/Postiz are in `references/calendar-schema.md`. After you write a calendar file, run `scripts/verify.sh path/to/calendar.{csv,json}` to catch over-cap bodies, byte-identical cross-posts, bad status values, and non-future scheduled datetimes. ## Platform limits & API reality Before promising programmatic publishing, check the 2026 gotchas — they change what is even possible. Full sourced table in `references/platform-limits.md`. - **Instagram Graph API:** ~25–50 API-published posts per *rolling* 24h per account (sources vary 25/50/100 by account trust); ~200 API requests/hour. The window is rolling, not calendar-day. (Meta IG Platform "Content Publishing Limit"; InstantDM 2026 — accessed 2026-06-02.) - **X API:** as of Feb 2026, legacy Free tier is write-restricted (~500 posts/month, no new signups) and **pay-per-use is now default for new developers** (~$0.01/post; URL posts cost more). Programmatic X posting costs money for new apps. (Zernio / Postproxy / Blotato 2026 — accessed 2026-06-02.) - **LinkedIn API:** free OAuth = Sign-In + basic profile only; posting (UGC/Share) runs ~100 calls/day/member and Marketing/advanced access starts **~$699+/mo** for approved partners. Plan around the gate. (Phyllo / SociaVault 2026 — accessed 2026-06-02.) - **Bluesky AT Protocol:** moved to OAuth (announced 2024-09-25; App Passwords deprecated for new projects; first granular scope `transition:email` shipped 2025-06-12); API is free with a ~5,000-points/hour cap. (Bluesky/AT Protocol docs — accessed 2026-06-02.) - **TikTok Content Posting API:** requires a separate audit and forces `SELF_ONLY` (private) posts until approved. (Blotato / PostPeer 2026 — accessed 2026-06-02.) **Execution-layer decision:** this skill produces the plan; something else publishes it. - Manual / few channels → a hosted scheduler (Buffer, Hootsuite) — import the CSV. - Self-host, own your data → **Mixpost** (Laravel, one-time license, drag-drop calendar, first-comment + dynamic variables) or **Postiz** (Apache-2.0, free, 15+ platforms). - Programmatic across many platforms → a unified API (Blotato-style) to dodge per-platform auth pain. (Mixpost.app; Postiz "Open Source Social Media Scheduler" / GitHub inovector/mixpost — accessed 2026-06-02.) ## Anti-patterns | Anti-pattern | Why it fails | Do instead | | --- | --- | --- | | Same caption pasted to every platform | Off-shape, link penalties, reads as spam; this is the #1 reason cross-posts flop | Reshape per channel via the repurposing matrix | | Chasing "best time" tables while ignoring own analytics | Generic slots are hypotheses; the audience's real peak is in *their* data | Seed from the grid, then move slots toward the account's analytics | | A 2-week burst, then going dark | Gaps can cut reach 30–50% and break the algorithm's trust | Pick a sustainable cadence and hold it | | Ignoring per-platform publish caps | IG ~25–50/rolling-24h and member-level LinkedIn limits get you throttled mid-launch | Check `references/platform-limits.md` before scheduling volume | | Treating Reels/Shorts/TikTok as "post the same vertical clip" | Each has different specs, hook windows, and caption rules | Cut per-platform; respect each spec | | Defining brand voice or picking topics here | Out of scope — produces inconsistent voice and a calendar with no strategy behind it | Route to `../brand-voice/SKILL.md` and `../content-engine/SKILL.md` | | Ending at advice with no calendar | The deliverable is a schedulable artifact, not a pep talk | Emit a dated CSV/JSON calendar and verify it |