The caption checklist: what to read before anything goes out

A finished piece can still go out wrong. The video is right; the caption says final_v3_export, or still has [link] in it, or tags someone who changed their handle. These mistakes are small, public and hard to take back once people have seen them. Most of them are caught by reading the words once more against a list.

The list

1. No file names. Several platforms fill the caption or title with the file name when you leave it empty. Look for underscores, version numbers and words like final, export or draft.
2. No placeholders. Brackets, TBC, XX, "link here", "add caption". Anything you meant to come back to.
3. The first line works alone. On every platform the caption is folded after a line or two. The first line is the one people read.
4. Mentions point at the right people. Handles change. Check each one on the platform you are posting to, since the same person can have a different handle on each.
5. Links go where you think. Open every link from the caption, and remember Instagram captions do not make links clickable.
6. Hashtags are few and specific. A handful that describe the piece beat a wall of generic ones.
7. It fits the platform. A LinkedIn paragraph pasted into TikTok, or a TikTok one-liner on LinkedIn, reads as copied.

Titles count too

YouTube titles and LinkedIn document titles are read before the work itself. They are also where file names leak most often, because the upload form puts the file name there for you.

Let something read it for you

Listo reads every caption and title before anything uploads. A file name, an export or version suffix, an unfilled bracket or a working label stops the post, and you are told which words and why. It does not rewrite anything; it only refuses to send what looks unfinished. When an agent schedules a post, it sees the same check and tells you in its reply.