Use IFTTT for Automatic Content Archival
August 27, 2012
IFTTT ("if this then that") is an automation tool that allows you to make "recipes" consisting of triggers. Here's how it works. You register all your social (and other internet-based) accounts with IFTTT. Then you can make a recipe, such as "whenever I get tagged on Facebook, send me an email." You can use this tool to automate social media actions, such as tweeting a link to your blog every time you publish a new blog post or posting a video link on your Facebook page every time you upload a new video to your YouTube channel.
I usually advise against too much automation, however, because the point of social media is to be social; too much automation makes you sound like a robot. Plus, the language of one social network differs from another in length and tone. A long post on Facebook, if automatically sent to Twitter, will get truncated (embarrassing!). Luckily, IFTTT does more than just automate. This tool can be used to help you with archiving content. It's good to save all the content you're putting out there so when you look back over the year you can get a sense of what you've created.
IFTTT recipes used for archiving
Instagram > Flickr
When you take a new Instagram photo it will go straight to Flickr as well.
Facebook > Flickr
Any new photo you upload to your Facebook page will be uploaded to your Flickr account.
Tumblr > Dropbox
Archive any new Tumblr post to Dropbox.
Wordpress > Evernote
Archive any new Wordpress blog post to Evernote.
Twitter > Google Drive
Archive all your tweets in a Google Drive spreadsheet.
Twitter > Evernote
Archive all your favorited tweets to Evernote.
Update (Sept. 2012): IFTTT no longer supports archiving Twitter actions. Read more about this change on TechCrunch.
Update (July 17, 2014): IFTTT again supports archiving Twitter actions.
