Cross-posting your posts to multiple sites

You might really want to switch from Xitter to Bluesky but are concerned about all your followers back on the hellsite. You don’t just want to abandon them all while you recreate your community on Bluesky. That isn’t a surprise at all. What you want is simply a way of easily posting to Bluesky that also posts to Xitter, and perhaps other sites, at the same time. That way you slowly and gracefully transition over.

Well, you aren’t the first one who needs a cross-poster. There are several choices out there. Plus there is a CNET article. And I’ll explain how to use the one that is most likely suitable.

The choices are:

• Program your own – A good number of technical have indeed created their own. But it takes a good amount of effort, so can’t really be recommended.
• Croissant – allows you to cross-post to Bluesky, Mastodon and Threads (but not Xitter) on your phone. Supports threaded posts. TechCrunch article. $2.99 monthly / $19.99 annually / $59.99 lifetime.
• Openvibe – allows you to cross-post to Bluesky, Threads, Mastodon and Nostr (but not Xitter) on your phone. CNET article. Currently free.
• Hootsuite – a tool for professional social media types. Cheapest plan is $99/month (I told you it was for pros)
• Buffer – a tool for professionals, but with an adequate free plan for up to 3 sites (like Xitter, Bluesky, and Threads or others) sans analytics. Can schedule posts. Recommended by Bluesky. Free – $100/month.

How to use Buffer

Buffer is likely the best choice for most people since it is free for up to 3 channels and, unlike many of the others, it can handle Xitter.

Using Buffer is quite simple. One just needs to:

• Go to buffer.com and click on Get Started
• Setup your account with an email and password 
• Skip the info on tools you don’t need 
• Buffer wants you to download their app but you don’t need it. So just skip it for now.
• Connect to couple of social media channels like Bluesky and Xitter
  • Bluesky
    • Click on Bluesky Channel on left side of Buffer.com
    • Enter your Bluesky handle e.g. yourName.bsky.social
    • Create and enter a Bluesky App password
    • That’s it. You can now send messages to Bluesky using Buffer
  • Xitter
    • Log into your Xitter account on your browser
    • Click on Xitter (Twitter/X) Channel on left side of Buffer.com
    • That’s it. You can now also send messages to Xitter using Buffer
  • Mastodon
    • Click on Mastodon Channel on left side of Buffer.com
    • Select your Mastodon Server
    • Sign in to your Mastodon account when Buffer asks you do so
    • Give Buffer permission to access your Mastodon account
    • That’s it. You can now also send messages to Mastodon using Buffer
• With Buffer you get three channels for free so once you have connected three you are done with configuration (unless you want to upgrade to a paid account).
• Create a post to be sent to all your channels.
  • Click on the + New Post button
  • In the Create Post page you will need to select all the channels you want the message to go to
  • Enter text for your message, and possibly an image or two
  • To send the message you can click on the Add to Queue button, but that means it won’t actually be sent until the configured send time. In order to send your post immediately click on the v next to the right of Add to Queue and then select Share Now.
  • Go to each of your channels and verify that your post was successful

You’re done!