SOCIAL MEDIA CAN’T BE YOUR LONE WAY TO REACH YOUR FANS

Do you need a sign that you should be in full control of your online presence?

How about two signs?

The Tankcrimes record label has been locked out of their Facebook account for over a month, which means they’ve lost contact with 28,000 followers.

Then there’s Topshelf Records, who had their ads account hacked and “had almost $20k in fraudulent charges,” and now they can’t tell their 35,400 followers on Instagram or 55,645 followers on Facebook about their new releases.

Any of us can be locked out of our social media accounts at any point, seemingly for whatever reason.

Own the direct connection to your audience, or else white knuckle the chaos of the daily social media shit show and hope you never lose access to your accounts.

Instead of freely giving Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk all your “exclusive” content (which they monetize, then turn around and charge you to reach your followers), publish the bulk of your work on your own website.

Why? Because ‘social media is the food court at the mall and the landlord sucks.’

Not all your fans hang out at the food court at the mall anymore, subsisting on a diet of pizza, smoothies, and chicken nugget outrage.

Social media is the food court at the mall, where your posts appear next to sports news and racist tirades, and the landlord keeps raising the rent.

It’s time to leave the food court at the mall.

Your art is your restaurant.

You set the menu and you set the hours. You adjust the lights, the atmosphere and the vibes are up to you.

Treat social media like a billboard, and use it to drive fans and curious seekers of your magic to your creative establishment.

Social media platforms are out for themselves.

They are not in the business of sending you free traffic.

They don’t care if you’re locked out of your account.

They take your art, you send them traffic, then they ask you for payment to reach the fans who clicked FOLLOW.

Update your website.
Send a weekly email newsletter.
Burn down your social media accounts.

I’m pissed.