Category: Social MediaCategory: Social Media

During a recent live stream I got this question in the chat:

You talk about not needing to be everywhere. But what about people who do want to be everywhere—those with big, rockstar-level ambitions? How should they think about that?

Firstly, especially in the vertical video world: TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels – if that’s the game you want to play, fine. Make one video and post it in three places. Go be on every platform. Go post everywhere.

But the odds aren’t in your favor, especially since everyone else is playing the same game.

But what if you took one day a week and instead of posting everywhere, you emailed people who are already rock stars? What if you reached out to the people who are already doing the work you want to be doing? Who are the people that might help you ascend to the next level?

What happens when you become friends with people in those places?

So much of this game is about who you know.

 “I don’t need much to do much” is something I mentioned to someone earlier this week. Maybe we don’t need 4K cameras or big ad spends to get the word out.

Posting on social media is like buying a lottery ticket, because maybe it’ll pay off. But contacting the people who can directly help you? They either write you back, or they don’t – those are 50/50 odds, much better than gambling with an algorithm and hoping it just “works out.”

I’m not saying every touring band can put out a full daily news paper, but please use this as inspiration or “permission” to make whatever weird and crazy thing you want to make.

Make a tour diary in Google Docs, print it out when you find a Staples (or bring a printer on the road), and put that on your merch table as a free give away.

Include a URL and coupon code for fans that don’t have the money to spend on the night you roll through town.

(link via Austin Kleon)

Magic talks about THE DIGITAL POLLUTION THEORY in her video “the chronically online will become a new underclass,” and recommends we log off, sooner rather than later.

“We can still build places rooted in clarity and care and connection. I just think that exists in real life. We can still build places that are transformative and more transformative than performative. If we don’t imagine something better and abandon the space, a future will be built for us digitally, completely without our consent, against our interests, and against our human nature. That is a digital pollution theory, you guys.”

Maybe quitting social media is more than apps and hacks which lean heavy on the SELF HELP industrial complex.

Maybe quitting social media involves other people who want to quit. Other small businesses folk who want to find new ways to market their work. Other creative people who could use the support of other people who seek the same escape.

Social media platforms isolate us, making us feel like we can just figure out the algorithm, the scheduling, the pacing, the engaging.

Then we try to walk away and look around and notice we’re alone. With more likes or comments, we lose the validation, the comfort, and we go running back. Or we buy a dumb phone, or a device, or set time limits on our apps, or try to go cold turkey.

This is why we need support, we need each other. Tough things are worth doing together with other people.