Same story, six audiences. The mistake most people make is either (a) posting the exact same caption everywhere, or (b) rewriting from scratch for each platform and burning out by Wednesday. There's a middle path.
The 80/20 rule
80% of your message stays the same — the core idea, the lesson, the call to action. 20% adapts to the platform's rhythm, length, and tone. SherpaPost shows you all six previews at once so you can see exactly where the 20% needs to flex.
What flexes per platform
- Instagram (2,200 chars) — story first, lesson second. Line breaks are free; use them. Emojis fine in moderation.
- Facebook (long) — conversational, like you're writing to one friend. Longer setups land here.
- X (280 chars) — one sharp thought. Cut every adjective. If it's a thread, the first post must stand alone.
- LinkedIn (3,000 chars) — open with the personal hook, close with the professional lesson. Avoid hashtags spam.
- Threads — text-first, conversational, slightly more casual than LinkedIn, slightly more curated than Twitter.
- Pinterest — title and description as search terms, not as a caption. Think "what would someone type into Google?"
Write the long version first (Instagram or LinkedIn). The others are almost always cuts of that — not rewrites.