Category: Social MediaCategory: Social Media

A friend of mine got a promotion at work. Talked to another friend who got a “word of mouth” referral, and it meeting a new client tomorrow. A local business owner is moving to a new location, and we talked about the headaches involved (and the return of their delicious chocolate chip cookies).

Was chatting with another friend who has wanted to start doing 1:1 client work, and they just got their first booking. Had a Zoom chat with someone I met on an Akimbo workshop call back in 2019, and we bounced around good vibes and stellar energy.

The more I think about Social Media Escape Club, the more I realize it’s all about the personal connections. It’s not just about the conversations, the encouragement, the support, the regular check ins, but the depth of those interactions.

Social media promotes more views, impressions, likes, and replies. It’s the glut of “happy birthday” comments left on those automated LinkedIn and Facebook posts, instead of the warmth of someone who texts or calls you on your big day.

Lots of well paid people sit in meetings all day plotting new ways to keep us exhausted and tied to the idea that without social media we’re nothing. Their livelihood (and two summer homes) depend on you making another post, using another hashtag, editing another vertical video.

They want you lugging a mic stand into the woods instead of playing a gig on a Tuesday night.

If you’re not spending time on their platform, why would they help you promote your gig? That’s why they want your “native uploads.” You’re rewarded with likes and “views” from people you don’t know, can’t meet, and maybe don’t even exist.

From James O’Sullivan in “The Last Days Of Social Media,”

“Average interaction rates across major platforms are declining fast: Facebook and X posts now scrape an average 0.15% engagement, while Instagram has dropped 24% year-on-year. Even TikTok has begun to plateau.”

Even if you’re still clinging to the glory days of social media, there is growing evidence that the best days are clearly in the past.

Most everything you post isn’t even seen by 95% of your followers. Sure, now and again they’ll see it, since the casino has to pay out once in awhile, but folks on social media want to be on social media.

“The timeline is no longer a source of information or social presence, but more of a mood-regulation device, endlessly replenishing itself with just enough novelty to suppress the anxiety of stopping.”

(via Jeffery Saddoris)

This from Howard Wuelfing, who made zines and documented the vibrant punk rock music scene in Washington, D.C. (read the full interview here, via Jen)

“(My) phone number wasn’t published in the magazine, but people were doing research. People were looking to make connections. At a certain point over a number of years, they built up something that at one point they used to call Fanzine Nation: this whole network of fanzines all over the place. You had local clubs that really specialized in booking indie bands that were created because people were looking to connect. It wound up being a very vital, very active, and very effective network of all these people working together. They looked for each other, they found each other, they collected that information, they shared it, and it was great.”

This isn’t just nostalgia, this is still happening. Social media companies make you think that all the connections start and end with their platforms, but there are many routes to make things work.

People are leaving social media and finding life outside of algorithms, away from the influence of techbro monoculture, and it’s all about sending the right signals.

What signals are you putting out today?

How can you send better signals?

And how can you make sure your signal doesn’t get lost in the noise?

Posting on social media is a lottery ticket, but sending an email to someone in a far away scene, or a newsletter write covering a particular topic, those are better odds. Get what you want by asking for it, not wishing upon a star.

Rigid publishing schedules and timelines are the teachings of the techbro industrial complex, the unholy trinity of The Data, The Device, and The Distraction.

Social media was a job we never signed up for, a part time gig to appease the algorithm. Displease the platform and you’ll be banished from the feed.

Yet I talk to many creative people who’ve stepped away from the social media circus and they’re doing fine. People who’ve left tech jobs and done okay. People who’ve left the hustle Olympics and realized there is life outside the algorithm.

As Erin Shetron said, daring to “(imagine) what devotion to craft can look like outside of platform demands.”

Instead of getting more subscribers, what if we focus on getting better?

Without a map, “better” becomes difficult to find. Without external validation or “engagement,” we’re off the hook – who can blame you for throwing in the towel?

But like my buddy Sean Cannon said on a recent Escape Pod Zoom call:

“All you have to do is just be 5% better than everyone else who’s really bad at it. You don’t have to get everything perfect… you just have to be a little bit better so you can survive the war of attrition.”

This doesn’t mean you have it all figured out, it just means you have the chance to figure it out because you didn’t burn out and give up.