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I need to explain that an app can post/share images to social networks and blogs with up to 5 services at the same time and that it's managed through outh.

Can anybody help me with some inspiration? I'm a bit stuck with that, especially if I should say upload to -, send to-, post to - or share with social networks.

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What happens to the photo when you send it to, say, three different social networks? Are you posting the photo once (e.g. to Flickr) and then referencing it from each of the three sites, or is it three separate transactions? – Monica Cellio Jan 18 '12 at 17:39
All your suggestions are fine, but "upload to" is probably better suited to "tech-savvy" readers than "share with". – FumbleFingers Jan 18 '12 at 17:40
@MonicaCellio Three separate transactions. – Bob Jan 18 '12 at 18:27
@FumbleFingers Good point, thanks! Would you say post to instead of upload to if a message gets added to the image? – Bob Jan 18 '12 at 18:29
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If it was me, I'd probably use "share" the first time I needed any of these words, and try to stick with it for consistency thereafter. If it really looks odd in some context, perhaps introduce one other word - "upload" should be fine, especially if the first time you use it comes very close behind "share". So your readers will quickly understand the usage if it's not something they're already familiar with. – FumbleFingers Jan 18 '12 at 18:37

4 Answers

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The idea behind "uploading" and "sharing" is different. If you really sending the image to their server it would be all right to use either "upload" or "share". But if you keep the image on your server and send or add the html, javascript e.t.c code to social network, "share" would be better.

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I'm sending the image to their server. Optionally a title and caption can be added to the image. (Like in a blog post) – Bob Jan 18 '12 at 18:32
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In this case, "upload to" may be more suitable. – Mustafa Jan 18 '12 at 18:38
up vote 1 down vote

I would use post to, send to, or (for slightly-more-technical users) upload to. Share can mean the same thing, but it can also imply just linking -- you post the photo somewhere and then just show it (HTML img tag or the like) on the three sites. So share is potentially ambiguous, and I would be concerned about users not realizing that they're posting the same photo in three different places. (Most of the time they might not care, but occasionally they will -- either for reasons of bandwidth or maintenance (taking it down or protecting it later).)

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up vote 1 down vote

They could submit the image.

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up vote 0 down vote

Sharing happens when one server can either use or duplicate the content from another server. Note that I don't have to upload them. I could make a folder on my local machine shared, for instance.

Uploading happens when one or more files, usually more than just text, are transferred from a local machine to a server. Note that they don't have to be shared; I can upload files to DropBox without sharing them with anyone.

Sending happens asynchronously, for instance, with email.

Post comes from a particular HTTP verb, and usually means submitting something over the internet. You don't have to use HTTP to share or upload files; you could use FTP, for instance.

You've said that outh is managing whatever it's doing with the services. Is it sending images to those services? Posting them over HTTP (unlikely)? Uploading them to their servers? Or just sharing those files and relying on the services to come get them? Or is it perhaps streaming them?

This is why I avoid the word "manage" when programming or talking about apps.

If you're talking to non-tech-savvy people, share would be fine. They'll understand that terminology if they've come across Facebook.

You could also try http://programmers.stackexchange.com.

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