How to Share a Post on Facebook (Simple Steps for 2024)

An Introduction to Sharing Posts on Facebook

Before diving into the specifics of how to share Facebook posts, it‘s helpful to level-set our understanding of a few core concepts:

Facebook Post Types

Facebook allows users to share diverse types of content in the form of posts, including:

• Status Updates: Text, photo, video and link updates shared by users directly to their timelines
• Photos: Photo albums and individual images uploaded by users
• Links: Links to external websites shared on Facebook
• Events: Details on events users host or attend
• Notes: Long-form written notes posted to Facebook

Here‘s a quick snapshot of key post type metrics (Source: Social Media Today):

We can observe photos and videos perform particularly well – good to optimize for when sharing relevant visual content.

When you share a post on Facebook, whether it originated from your own account or someone else‘s, you are essentially redistributing one of these types of content to your connections.

Privacy Settings

Posts on Facebook have an associated privacy setting that determines visibility:

• Public: Anyone on or off Facebook can see post
• Friends: Only the poster‘s Facebook friends can see post
• Friends except acquaintances: Friends except acquaintances can see post
• Only me: Only the post creator can see post

Understanding post privacy is key when sharing since certain posts may have restrictions on visibility or resharing capabilities based on their settings. You can generally identify the audience setting based on the indicator icon shown above each post.

Now let‘s get into the details on how to actually share posts across Facebook!

Sharing a Post to Your Timeline

The most straightforward type of post sharing on Facebook is sharing directly to your own timeline.

From Desktop

1. Click the "Share" button below any post while viewing Facebook in a browser.



2. Select "Share on your timeline" from the dropdown menu.



3. Optional: Add a caption or description about why you‘re sharing the post.
4. Select the audience to share with (Public, Friends, etc).
5. Click the "Post" button.

The post will now appear on your timeline along with any caption you added, visible to the chosen audience.

From Mobile

Sharing a post to your mobile timeline is very similar:

1. Tap the "Share" icon below any post in the Facebook app.



2. Choose "Share on your timeline" option.
3. Optional: Add a caption.
4. Select audience.
5. Tap "Post" to share to your timeline.

While functionally similar, notice on mobile the share icon is located in a different bottom corner position compared to desktop.

Caption capability and audience selection are preserved across both, optimizing flexibility.

Sharing a Post to a Friend‘s Timeline

Want to easily notify a Facebook friend about an interesting post? You can share directly to their timeline:

From Desktop

1. Click the "Share" button below the desired post.
2. Select "Share on a friend‘s timeline" option.
3. Type the name of the friend you want to share with to tag them.
4. Add an optional caption/message.
5. Click "Post" to share to your friend‘s timeline.

They‘ll receive a notification about your share appearing on their timeline.

From Mobile

Similarly, from mobile:

1. Tap the "Share" icon.
2. Choose "Share on a friend‘s timeline."
3. Type your friend‘s name to tag them.
4. Add optional caption.
5. Tap "Post."

Your friend will be tagged in the reshared post on their timeline.

Again we see very comparable functionality between desktop and mobile, with mobile access enabling on-the-go post sharing.

Sharing a Post in a Group

Did you come across the perfect post for one of your Facebook groups? Sharing to groups is a breeze:

From Desktop

1. Click the "Share" button below post.
2. Select the "Share in a group" option.
3. Choose which group you want to share to from the dropdown menu.
4. Add an optional caption.
5. Click "Post" to share post to group.

From Mobile

The steps are very similar on mobile:

1. Tap the "Share" icon.
2. Choose "Share to a group" option
3. Select the group to share to from the menu.
4. Add optional caption/comment.
5. Tap "Post" to share to group.

With just a few taps, the post will appear in your selected group‘s feed for all members to see. Much easier than copy/pasting the link!

Let‘s explore how post sharing to groups has evolved over time:

July 2014 – Facebook rolls out dedicated group sharing options beyond just copying link.
September 2020 – Facebook launches the ability to add captions when sharing to groups.

We can see product investment steadily improving group sharing capabilities.

Sharing a Post on a Facebook Page

If you manage a Facebook page, sharing timely content to your page feed helps keep your audience informed and engaged.

Here‘s a snapshot of recommended posting frequency and performance based on Wibki page analysis:

Let‘s go over simple steps to share content meeting these benchmarks to your page feed.

From Desktop

1. Navigate to the page you want to share the post to.
2. Click the "Share" button on the post.
3. Select "Share on a page you manage."
4. Choose the applicable page from the dropdown.
5. Add an optional caption.
6. Click "Post."

From Mobile

Similarly, from the Facebook app on your phone:

1. Go to the Facebook page you manage in the app‘s menu.
2. Tap the "Share" icon on the desired post.
3. Choose "Share to a page you manage."
4. Pick the relevant page.
5. Add optional caption.
6. Tap "Post."

The post will then appear in your page‘s feed, ready to engage your audience!

It‘s super simple to repurpose quality content onto your Facebook page to spark discussions or inform your followers.

Customizing Your Post Shares

When sharing posts on Facebook, you have options to customize your post share to control the narrative. Here are a few ideas:

Add Captions

Craft value-driven captions (~40 words) explaining why the content matters to hook readers.

Tag People

Mention relevant people in your captions to notify them or draw their commentary.

Choose Audience

Utilize advanced audience selectors when sharing posts to a timeline to segment who can see it – friends, close friends, a custom list, etc.

Editing or Deleting Shared Posts

Whoops! Accidentally shared something you didn‘t mean to? It happens. Here‘s how to remedy it:

Edit Post

Click the three dots at top right of your shared post → Edit Post → Make edits → Save.

You can change your caption, tags, and audience.

Delete Post

Click the three dots → Delete Post → Confirm.

Hide From Your Timeline

Click the three dots → Hide from Timeline.

This leaves the post up for any tagged people but removes it from your profile view.

Cross-Posting to Other Platforms

Amplify your content reach by sharing key Facebook posts to other platforms:

Evaluate performance data across channels and double down on best resonating platform fits.

Engaging Your Audience with Strategic Sharing

Simply sharing posts isn‘t enough – you need an engagement strategy:

• Craft value-driven captions explaining why the content matters to hook readers.
• Ask open-ended questions to spark conversation.
• Tag people likely to be interested to pull them into commenting.
• Pay attention to ideal posting times based on your audience‘s habits.
• Interact with any comments and shares to continue community.
• Analyze your top-performing post types and optimize accordingly.

Here are benchmarks for quality engaging posts:

• 5+ comments
• 10+ reactions
• 5%+ engagement rate

Monitor your sharing strategy against these KPIs and tweak based on what content/approach drives discussion.

Sharing is more than just a distribution mechanism – it‘s a valuable community-building tool when planned effectively.

Put these tips into play to help improve performance of your shares!

Key Takeaways

Let‘s recap core learnings:

📌 Share posts easily via native Facebook menus

📌 Reshare to timelines, friends, groups and pages

📌 Compose captions and tag people to customize

📌 Manage privacy and editing as needed

📌 Extend reach across other platforms

📌 Develop an engaging content strategy

Hopefully you now feel equipped to master post sharing on Facebook like a pro!

Let me know in the comments if you have any other questions. Happy connecting!