From a Cal Newport blog post, “In Defense of Thinking,”

“I’m done ceding my brain — the core of all that makes me who I am — to the financial interests of a small number of technology billionaires or the shortsighted conveniences of hyperactive communication styles.”

The platforms display view counts of short form “content,” but that doesn’t mean you’re required to play along. Are those numbers even accurate?

Lots of people drive past billboards everyday on highways, but so what?

It’s 2026 and $20 magazines exist. People are buying vinyl records. Young people are buying digital cameras and camcorders and CD players.

There is a possibility that people you’re trying to reach aren’t even on social media anymore.

Someone asked me about finding engagement outside of social media on today’s Substack Live.

I get asked this a lot, and it came up in a great conversation with Deanna Seymour on her podcast that I recorded earlier today.

My answer isn’t super complicated, but it does require patience. I make it work by showing up on other people’s channels (think podcasts, YouTube interviews, live sessions) and having genuine conversations.

I don’t do this as a growth hack. I’m not expecting a thousand people to rush to my site. Maybe ten people really hear me, and two of them subscribe to your newsletter, and if I keep doing that, those twos and threes add up.

The real trick is consistency, though. One podcast every four months ain’t gonna move the needle. But showing up regularly, having good conversations with good people, and letting their audience find me over time – that’s how all this works without social media.

Great insight from Carly Valancy and her work with author Laura Rubin.

Sometimes you’re too close to the thing to see the opportunities that are right under your nose. Halfway through this experiment, Laura realized her best friend didn’t event know what her book was about. You cannot expect someone to help you if you don’t let them in.

Sometimes the first step isn’t reaching out to strangers. It’s just sharing with the people who already love you and giving them the chance to help.

We often think we’re communicating our ideas and offers clearly, but there’s a possibility that those in our immediate network might not fully understand what you’re trying to get across. We take it for granted that they get it, when they might not. And if that’s the case, how might it resonate with total strangers?

Last October Tom Violett joined one of our Escape Pod Zoom calls. He’s making his first documentary (Voices For Change) at 62 with his 19 year old filmmaker son Ray.

He said he went to a documentary screening of a young filmmaker in Philadelphia, PA.

“It turned out to be a Video Consortium Hub event, with both experienced and emerging filmmakers all in the same room,” said Tom. “That night, I turned to Ray and said, ‘I want one of these in New Jersey.’”

And that’s what he did!

“So I made it happen — connected with a few people — and we had our launch event a few weeks ago. We brought together emerging filmmakers, a documentary filmmaker who’s been doing a PBS series for 13 years, and another friend who’s been an editor for 30 years, doing high-end work like Super Bowl commercials.

They all just talked.

We’re building that community, and people are hungry for it. It’s tough when you’re out there on your own, but once you find that community, it just takes off.”

They all just talked.

That’s it, friends. That’s the magic.

The magic is also in re-sharing this story for people who didn’t it see the first time. This is another change to be inspired, to see how another creative person is making things happen within his creative orbit.

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From Charlotte Rubesa of the print-first publication Quiet Media, in an interview with Naive Weekly:

“Social media used to be a fairly reliable channel. It gave us a direct connection with our audience and allowed for organic discovery. If you had 10,000 followers, maybe 80-85% of them would see what you posted and be likely to engage. Over time, it has matured into a professionalised industry and that sense of possibility has warped. Today your visibility is mediated by platforms and the algorithms they design, which results in a culture where we are constantly encouraged to optimise, to chase relevance and “hack” systems, while sidelining those direct relationships.”

Platforms change, and you can either adapt with those changes, choose to stop playing the game, or land somewhere in between.

The audience of people who spend 4+ hours per day on social media is quite different than an audience who wants to buy a magazine (like Quiet Media) for $20, but as Seth Godin says, choose your customers, choose your future.

Your biggest fans don’t know what you released a year ago. Heck, they probably missed the announcement you made last week, too.

It’s not that no one cares about your latest work, it’s that no one knows about it. They’re living their lives, working their jobs, paying their bills – your next big thing probably isn’t on their mind, at least without mentioning it several times over several weeks.

The trick is carrying over the same creative energy that you pour into your work into how you talk about it, how you share it.

Coca Cola doesn’t run ads about the price of 12 packs throughout the week. Instead, they find creative ways to remind the world, “hey, we’re here.” And they’re the biggest soft drink in the world, right?

In the same way, someone heard Led Zeppelin for the first time today. Watched their first episode of Seinfeld. There are people who’ve still never watched Star Wars.

Almost everyone that subscribed to your newsletter in the last month missed the great thing you created two years ago. Re-send it.

Let’s talk about sharing our old work, promoting it in new ways, and using it to build a foundation of our journey forward. 

Join this week’s Escape Pod Zoom call and join the conversation with other smart creative folks, and let’s explore this together.

Thursday, April 16 from 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EST: https://luma.com/r4jwgreo

Hey, Social Media Escape Club is more than just a blog and a newsletter. It’s actual people getting together and having conversations week after week.

◾ CO-WORK ESCAPE POD
Re-write your about page, organize your photo library, draft a newsletter, fold the laundry, file your receipts – two 50 minute sprints with other creative folks!
Tuesday, April 14 from 12-2:00 PM EST: https://luma.com/72ok4e19

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From Cecilie Maria Nielsen, one of our two special guests from last week’s Escape Pod video call.

“One thing I think is true for all of us — and it doesn’t have to be a choir, it’s any kind of group version of your art form of choice — what does that look like if you do it together with a group? Is there a way you can facilitate it?”

Social media has it’s own way of isolating us; the allure of the lone-creator going viral is very real. But maybe the journey is better with others?

What could our creative endeavors look like if we did them together?