When you log on to any social media platform these days, you’ll see that everybody’s putting up posts. Feeds are a churning batter of paragraphs, videos, images, audiograms, and slides. Everything is a constant barrage of lessons, experiences, insights, and the occasional photos of someone’s dog or lunch.
Except it isn’t.
The trend of hiring out
Although plenty of people author every single post they publish, in the professional world, hiring out content — on social media as well as websites — has become normalized. After all, what’s a busy, ambitious person to do when there are so many other responsibilities? Content is necessary (haven’t you heard the LinkedIn gurus recommending that companies post two to five posts per week?!), but it’s also something one can delegate.
So, there’s no guarantee that what you see on someone’s feed truly comes from them. Often, particularly at the executive level, it comes from a content manager or an entire team charged with building a personal brand. There is no way to know whether the post came from the professional’s own fingertips or if it came from an unknown genius who only wants to pay their bills.
Delegation is fine, a lack of transparency is not
From the Christian standpoint, there’s nothing wrong with delegating by itself. Moses didn’t build the tabernacle alone, after all (Exodus 35:4-40:38). Every general has soldiers. Delegating can allow people to learn higher-level skills they need to advance, too.
The problem in the hire-out practice arises when the delegation lacks transparency. To essentially impersonate another person is deceit and untruth. And God is not a God of treachery or lies.
From this standpoint, hiring out content creation is not a good thing. Good content creators can get pretty close to your voice, but they will never be you. You will lose some of your authenticity, and you run the risk that, if people discover they weren’t really engaging with you, they won’t want to anymore. Whatever you gain in efficiency puts trust on the line.
And really think about this logically. If hiring out has become common, what do you really have if you jump on the bandwagon? A bunch of content creators, commenting on other content creators, with none of the professionals they work for ever at the front.
So, my recommendation is simple: Skip the hire-out trend and post less on your own. It’s better to reduce the frequency of your content (including comments) but show up consistently with high value in a way that won’t disappoint your followers.
Or, you know, as LinkedIn says right before their two-to-five-post recommendation:
It’s better to post high-quality, relevant content less frequently than to post mediocre content more often. Your content should add value, whether it’s through insights, industry news, or updates about your company.
For my part, I’ve made the decision not to manage anyone else’s content or sign any more work contracts that would muddy the waters about who actually has done tasks. As I commit to this, I hope you will rethink the hire-out strategy, too.