SOCIAL MEDIA FEEDS EXPIRE

Putting our best work on platforms we don’t control, or which most of the world won’t see, might not be the best use of our time.

Posts on social media wash away like sand castles. Meanwhile our websites haven’t been updated in months.

And that’s a shame, since I see so much effort that goes into these social media posts.

So many reflections, insights, big ideas, all finely worded and crafted, all just so 3% of our “followers” might see it.

Instead, we could put that work on our websites.

It’s not about “driving eyeballs to our websites,” it’s about having something on our website worth reading. So when someone is interested enough to click, they can actually dig deeper and find out what you’re about.

Sure, that might “only” be a handful of people, but give me two genuinely curious people per day on my website instead of 100 people at the food court looking for chicken nuggets. That’s why we put our best work on our websites. Our thoughts, photos, ideas, videos become a feed on our own websites, in our own ecosystem, with our own branding and colors and vibes.

Yes, you can use platforms to showcase your work, but those feeds will expire one day. You’ll stop updating X, or walk away from LinkedIn, or Instagram will lock you out of your account, or something else beyond your control.

Smartphones ship with a web browsers, not social media apps.

Amelia Hruby, PHD of the Off The Grid podcast is our guest on this week’s Escape Pod Zoom call.