Category: Social MediaCategory: Social Media

Maybe social media isn’t just a distraction like, while we’re making coffee, but a distraction from how we used to do business.

Years ago we’d set up at craft fairs, local markets, book tours, set up at zine fests and punk rock flea markets, open store fronts – all these wonderful things to enrichen our communities.

But then we’ve spent so much time trying to impress or reach 1000 people every other hour because it somehow worked for other folks who won the social media viral sweepstakes. “Hey,” we thought, “if they could do it, so can I!”

When in fact that viral-ness happened because the platforms were designed to bring in hoards of people and then focus the laser beam of attention on the winner each day.

It was never meant to last, or to benefit the artist. It was meant to increase shareholder value, nothing else.

What percentage of your Substack subscribers have a ★★ or lower activity rating? For me, it’s 65%. Maybe I’m a horrible newsletter writer and that’s why no one reads my publication?

Or maybe Substack greased the wheels to drive subscriptions and give the illusion that they’re a coveted source of enthused readers? This is straight from the social media playbook as detailed by Cory Doctorow’s concept of Enshittification:

First they lure users onto their platforms, then attract businesses who might profit from this newly formed public, and then finally squeeze both for their own profit. Tech giants lure users in with convenience and then degrade their services over time, draining profit at the cost of user experience. In the meantime our public squares have turned somewhere between the mall and a dumpster fire, that is unfit to deal with the problems of our times.

I was looking for a free place to start a newsletter back in 2021. The Recommendations feature rolled out in early 2022. I got lots of subscribers from that! Then Substack Notes came in April of 2023 – like Twitter, but “nicer!”

The subscriptions flowed like water, like a fire hose!

Until it didn’t. I used to get 25+ new sign ups a day, but as you can see above (that 65% of my email audience if dreadfully unengaged), what did that really get me?

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Stop posting and invite three of your biggest fans to connect.

Resist “getting out the word” to everybody, and reach out to three key contacts.

The element of “this might not work” brings clarity by way of tension, while waiting for an algorithmic break reduces your work to a scratch-off lottery ticket.

In our Thursday Escape Pod Zoom call, we talked about finding subscribers without using Substack Notes, and one of our members (Joi) spoke of using another social media platform to get what she wanted.

“I follow a lot of small businesses, and they post what’s happening on (social media). We have a local magazine that does really well here, and I found a writer/photographer who covers music. I reached out to them on social media, and they DM’d me back with their number, like, “Let’s talk about doing an article or a story.”

Joi couldn’t find the contact info for the writer on the publications website so she had to get resourceful.

Use the tools that are available to get the results you want.

Instead of just posting, “hey, I’m seeking music magazine writers to talk to about my work,” Joi used Instagram like a tool, like a phone book or a directory, and got in touch with someone who may help get the word out about the work she does.

Find out more about our weekly Escape Pod Zoom calls here.

Had another chat with Angela Hollowell (Please Hustle Responsibly) all about the benefits of spending our time away from social media, content ownership, and lots more.

Angela talking about spending your time wisely:

“I could be on social media, making a big deal that I’m going to be here and doing all these things. Or I could just let the people who want to be on social media stay there, and focus instead on the relationships that matter — the ones that aren’t dependent on social media.”

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