Pushing one social media stream to another is nothing new. I’ve been pushing my Google Reader updates to an automated Twitter feed for many months now, and my Twitter feed goes automatically to my LinkedIn profile. However, these tend to be pretty automated processes, without a lot of flexibility built into that process. If you’re looking to put a little more structure in your cross-social-media experience, then you will want to check out a service called “If This Then That” (ifttt). If you’ve ever done any programming in your life, you’ll recognize the idea behind the name.

Let’s say you want to automatically send a Twitter message each time you upload a picture to Flickr… or, you want to be notified by email if a stock you are monitoring drops below a certain price… or, you want to get a Text Message when someone posts a certain guitar for sale on Craigslist. Then ifttt is the tool you’re looking for. Create the tasks so that “IF” a certain event happens (that Les Paul guitar comes available), “THEN” you get an alert of some type letting you know about it.

The service is free, and if you’re not sure how to get started, there are “recipes” that others have created and have shared with everyone. Just looking at some of the recipes this morning, here are a few examples of what you can do:

  • If you “Star” something in Google Reader, that gets pushed to your Evernote or Instapaper account
  • Send Google+ updates to Twitter or Facebook Wall
  • Automatically send a “Thanks for Following” to new Twitter followers (but please, don’t!)
  • Get weather updates send to your SMS (letting you know it’s going to rain)
  • If you’re tagged in a Facebook picture, a copy is sent to your Dropbox account
The list goes on an on. There are a number of supported platforms (see the list below.) If you’re wanting to find ways of expanding your ability to cross-pollinate your social media experience, then head over to If This Then That and give it a go. If you make something cool, be sure to share it with us!!