The term "sharing is caring", can be taken many ways. For the purpose of this post, "sharing is caring" relates to building brand awareness through content sharing. To attempt to protect your content can take a lot of valuable time to police. I have a different perspective which embraces the mantra, "sharing is caring". I generally ask that those who use our content create a link back to the original source. Our content creates brand awareness. This is one of the most important task with spreading a viral message while increasing the reach of your brand . It is important because the very nature of the web/internet is that information is distributed and re-distributed. This creates platforms of authority and trusted sources. Brand awareness is implicit in this process. In the past, I have seen YouTube videos with over a million views but no brand has leverage those numbers. In other words the video is of some kid doing some neat trick that everyone loves but that is it-It is a viral video with nothing attached. The Old Spice commercials have taken the viral video concept and leveraged it for millions to see their product.
Those who use our content from any of our websites are brand ambassadors-when it is an exchange and when recognition of where information was received is noted. Content producers are best served when collaborating with other websites who can introduce your brand to others. Visit Huffington Post, CNN, TheRoot and you will notice they are link to other websites with their own content. The back-end of this exchange can take a variety of forms-paid, content exchange, profit sharing, etc. The reader continues to return because the steady stream of content continues to be attractive.
If someone shares your content, this means they like it. If they re-post your content, this means they appreciate it. They cared enough to click that ReTweet, share, download, subscribe button. It should all appreciate.
