In his new book, The Art of Social Media, Guy Kawasaki states;
“Resharing, not imitation, is the sincerest form of flattery on social media.”
While this concept is definitely true on social media—the resharing concept is also true in life as well. Resharing is the taking of an idea that has already been shared by the author, maintaining the authorship intact, and then reshare the idea with someone else. For instance, “I read a great book; you should read it too.” That is resharing.
To imitate—or copy someone—has been said to be the highest form of flattery. But, if you think deeper, the highest form of flattery is resharing.
To copy somebody—you tell the world; “Yes, I liked it—but any monkey can do that—so I will steal it as my own!”
To reshare, on the other hand, tells the world; “What is before you is completely brilliant—brilliant enough to reshare with my friends!”
So, yes, resharing is the highest form of flattery! And we need more resharing in our world! And the easiest place to do this is on social media. On social media, you take an article, image, or video that has been written by someone and you then reshare that product with your circle of friends or followers. With a click of the mouse, or a touch of your finger, you can be paying the highest form of flattery.
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(Photo: graphicsfuel.com)