Category: Social MediaCategory: Social Media

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.”

(more…)

Jamie Cox wrote “Going viral is overrated,” all about a LinkedIn post that went viral, reaching 17,000+ people and getting around 35,000 impressions. What happened next?

• Project Inquiries: 1 (unqualified)
• Site Visitors: 0
• Newsletter Subscribers Added: 0
• LinkedIn Followers Added: 162

They won the “keep people on LinkedIn” lottery, sure, but otherwise their viral hit was a dud.

A viral hit can lead to opportunities, but that’s how casinos stay in business. People buy lottery tickets because of the slim chance they’ll win while forgetting about the many months of losing.

Like Angela Hollowell said during our video chat:

“I’m not tempted to leave LinkedIn because my LinkedIn reach has gone down… I’m tempted to leave LinkedIn and posting on any social media platform regularly because of the time that it takes for me to do that when I could be spending more time writing a better long-form article.”

Yes, you can make quick posts that get 35,000 impressions. But you can also write long-form articles that make you two sales and pay your rent for the next three months.

Communicate your ideas effectively with an audience that cares and you won’t need to spend your time at the casino.

Never forget that corporate vultures swooped in and wrecked blog culture with their SEO posts and 13 display ads, and said “wow, blogs suck now!”

Then those crooks rolled out their shiny social media platforms – “wow, so clean! Who even needs a website?!? LOL!”

Now everyone’s ideas and posts were readable, without pop ups or takeover ads. It was bliss!

But the pivot to video (which was based on a lie) got writers fired. Sites shuttered because social media sites throttled links.

We’re learning everyday that maybe centralized kingdoms of power maybe aren’t great.

The decentralized internet is already here in the form of domain names, websites, email lists, and RSS feeds. We don’t need to wait for anyone, we can just decide today where we spend out time and energy.

Angela Hollowell (Please Hustle Responsibly) and I talk about stepping back from algorithm-driven platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram to build slower, calmer, more sustainable creative practices.

Angela on her reason to spend less time on LinkedIn:

“I’m not tempted to leave LinkedIn because my LinkedIn reach has gone down. I’m tempted to leave LinkedIn and posting on any social media platform regularly because of the time that it takes for me to do that when I could be spending more time writing a better long-form article

Me on websites:

“I think curation is the big part of of like you came to my website and this is someone asked me like oh well why doesn’t my website my website doesn’t get the same engagement as as say a LinkedIn. Well yeah cuz LinkedIn is built for engagement. There’s all these things to click and do and this whereas your most websites are just like here’s a big picture here’s eight links here. What do you want me to engage with?”

Angela on doing the work, rather than writing everyday on LinkedIn:

“The thing I’m most known for now, and where I’m getting a lot more recognition as a writer, producer, and film director—is from (my documentary). Way more than I did in four years of writing every day on social media. Yeah, that project took me six months to make, and then another year basically doing a film festival circuit. But it has paid off exponentially. I try to remind myself of that when I start thinking, “Oh, I should post this on LinkedIn.” It’s like—no, I shouldn’t, actually. I should let it cook.

And this is me, talking about spending less time on social media, and seeing where that can lead:

“I started doing my my weekly Zoom calls with my paid members like a year and a half ago and let me say, when I started them I was scared out of my mind. Like, “who who am I to like host Zoom calls?” Now I get like 10 to 15 people. I had six or seven this morning at the last minute. It’s amazing. But like, that work and not being on social media and doing that kind of quiet ,behind the scenes thing… now I’m ready for whatever.”

I hope you get something from this chat! If you have questions, please get in touch: seth@socialmediaescape.club

Recorded live on Substack, July 28 2025.