That's why I stopped posting on Instagram and came to substack to try to find real people again. Once Instagram was a community for film photographers, before that we were on Flickr (remember that one? 😂) Now Instagram is just shows you stolen pet videos, disgusting.
I cross post - to what avail I don't know. Anyway I just consider it work. Some of it is worthwhile some not so. Not everything is glamorous and rewarding - it can't be.
Absolutely feeling this. As a fellow writer, the struggle with social media is real. It's like a double-edged sword, necessary for visibility yet overwhelming to keep up with. I've had my fair share of trying to fit into the social media mold, only to realize it's not where my true essence lies. Now I'm focussed on finding a space where my creativity can flourish authentically, away from the noise of mainstream platforms, while also sometimes engaging on them.
Ahhhh, is it necessary for visibility, or have the people who built those platforms made you believe that without them you’ll fail, miss out, and never succeed? 😵💫😵💫😵💫
CATCH 22 MAX!!!! I for one totally feel creating, writing, doing anything you love to do needs to happen whether or not these platforms exist. Stay true to your craft regardless of who's validating it. The platforms started out as enablers - to reach wider audience (and I like to believe they still are) but in the rat race and hotch potch of metrics like likes and followers, it's easy to get de-railed from the art. So, trying to stay put and keep creating <3
Yessss! I’m most sad seeing accounts with 1000s of followers reaching on like 5-8% of their audience. And all the work that goes into to gaining 1000 news followers?!? Oooooph!
Man, I love this. I've been trying to stay off social. Hard, when you're a writer, and part of your hire-ability is contingent on your ability to create "content." which usually just means copy for social media. I have had seasons of trying and failing to conform to social to get more eyes on my work. But I think your observation is ultimately true in my life. I'm committing to Substack, all-in, for now, hoping it doesn't turn into Twitter or Instagram.
Well, even if Substack DOES turn into Twitter or Instagram, you've at least built an email list from this platform. More than I can say for the 17 years I was on Twitter!
This is the first post of yours I’ve read and I love it. I feel like I “know” you and get a clear sense of who you are just in this one post. Something that social media can’t quite do. And you’re either a really cool guy, or have everyone fooled. And I’d be one of the fools if it was the latter haha. Looking forward to digging into more of your work (refusing to call it content).
First post for me as well and it hits at such a crucial time. I'm working on a new record and have a low-key social media presence because I've come to hate it, mostly because I refuse to compete with some local/regional bands who post such absurd exaggerations of their level of artistry and popularity. I'm still working on my strategy and I'm considering launching a Substack because I miss writing (I used to have a blog that was well-read in my communities).
Oh my goodness, thank you so much! I HOPE I’m a genuine cool guy haha and thankfully I’m surrounded by a bunch of good people I get to work and collaborate with, so I THINK I’m doing it right! Haha
LOVED your post about the retreat you made happen. You’ll see in my recent posts I talk a lot about coming together, meeting, being WITH people in our field, so that really resonated with me!
Great post that perfectly captures how real, in-person community can kill the power of social media. In my opinion, social media algorithms and their platforms which give a false sense of "community" have been hugely harmful in a variety of ways: mental health decline, disinformation/misinformation distribution, etc.
So good! I felt pressure around showing up on Instagram for a long time. I just got so tired of creating "content" and not actually creating. Reading posts like this help me to feel that distancing myself from it is more than okay and I'm not alone in it all. Thanks!
Yes! I made a pact with myself last night to stop checking my social media during the day - it's draining and on harder days with the kids it's far too easy to escape into and then feel guilty about, as it directly goes against my goal to not be on my phone around them. It's so easy to forget that the community you've built on a social platform probably isn't even aware of what you're putting out there half the time, and is such a creativity killer. A mood killer, too, because sometimes you do put a lot of effort in and then find yourself thinking "well, engagement was low, I must be crap"
Ps 100 new subs since last week! Check you out! Very well deserved
"I MUST BE CRAP." Yep. No one cares! And it's not that no one cares, it's that no one KNOWS. We THINK we're keeping up with everyone, but we see 3 or 4 things, and the rest are ads or promoted accounts, or whatever.
“Social media loses power when we build community in other places.” This is brilliant and powerfully put. Like so many others I’ve spent years resenting the expectation to be extremely online — but not sure how to escape from it. This piece makes an amazing argument that the solution has been there, right in front of us, all along.
Wow - amazing to see all these responses. Finally, a place online for people who (mostly) hate being online! This is such an important, healthy thing to normalize - thank you.
I struggle with these cold hard facts often. Social media has this torturous grip on my brain to the point where I detox from it and I feel like something is missing…
This is very true. Being in the weeds with social media metrics every month, it’s fairly common to see organic reach (% of total followers who see a typical post) hover between 20 and 40 percent for every channel. Certainly there are spikes that exceed that from time to time, but it’s tough sledding for sure.
Oooooh, so you're IN IT, doing the best stuff possible, and 60-80% of followers still aren't seeing posts, which is such a bummer! Tough sledding, indeed!
I already commented on someone’s Restack, but thought I’d share here as well. I feel like this post came out at the right time for me as I have been strongly contemplating abandoning my efforts on the big social media platforms because of the reasons in this post. Great read!
That's why I stopped posting on Instagram and came to substack to try to find real people again. Once Instagram was a community for film photographers, before that we were on Flickr (remember that one? 😂) Now Instagram is just shows you stolen pet videos, disgusting.
Oh, I remember Flickr very well - been on there since 2004! Real people are here, hello!
As I just started on her yesterday this one post just gave me and my neurosis a massive collective sigh. So thank you for that.
Social media is this necessary evil in some respects and it has literally sucked the life out of so many of us as well as society.
So thank you for this. It means I will write and share without expectation and simply hope for the organic best.
I cross post - to what avail I don't know. Anyway I just consider it work. Some of it is worthwhile some not so. Not everything is glamorous and rewarding - it can't be.
Absolutely feeling this. As a fellow writer, the struggle with social media is real. It's like a double-edged sword, necessary for visibility yet overwhelming to keep up with. I've had my fair share of trying to fit into the social media mold, only to realize it's not where my true essence lies. Now I'm focussed on finding a space where my creativity can flourish authentically, away from the noise of mainstream platforms, while also sometimes engaging on them.
Ahhhh, is it necessary for visibility, or have the people who built those platforms made you believe that without them you’ll fail, miss out, and never succeed? 😵💫😵💫😵💫
CATCH 22 MAX!!!! I for one totally feel creating, writing, doing anything you love to do needs to happen whether or not these platforms exist. Stay true to your craft regardless of who's validating it. The platforms started out as enablers - to reach wider audience (and I like to believe they still are) but in the rat race and hotch potch of metrics like likes and followers, it's easy to get de-railed from the art. So, trying to stay put and keep creating <3
Yessss! I’m most sad seeing accounts with 1000s of followers reaching on like 5-8% of their audience. And all the work that goes into to gaining 1000 news followers?!? Oooooph!
Man, I love this. I've been trying to stay off social. Hard, when you're a writer, and part of your hire-ability is contingent on your ability to create "content." which usually just means copy for social media. I have had seasons of trying and failing to conform to social to get more eyes on my work. But I think your observation is ultimately true in my life. I'm committing to Substack, all-in, for now, hoping it doesn't turn into Twitter or Instagram.
Well, even if Substack DOES turn into Twitter or Instagram, you've at least built an email list from this platform. More than I can say for the 17 years I was on Twitter!
That's very true and at least one good reason to persist here
This is fantastic. So simple. Thank you Seth.
This is the first post of yours I’ve read and I love it. I feel like I “know” you and get a clear sense of who you are just in this one post. Something that social media can’t quite do. And you’re either a really cool guy, or have everyone fooled. And I’d be one of the fools if it was the latter haha. Looking forward to digging into more of your work (refusing to call it content).
First post for me as well and it hits at such a crucial time. I'm working on a new record and have a low-key social media presence because I've come to hate it, mostly because I refuse to compete with some local/regional bands who post such absurd exaggerations of their level of artistry and popularity. I'm still working on my strategy and I'm considering launching a Substack because I miss writing (I used to have a blog that was well-read in my communities).
Thanks for your thoughtful post!
Heck yes, blog writing! Folks like Austin Kleon still keep their blogs going, while sending out newsletter via Substack.
Oh my goodness, thank you so much! I HOPE I’m a genuine cool guy haha and thankfully I’m surrounded by a bunch of good people I get to work and collaborate with, so I THINK I’m doing it right! Haha
LOVED your post about the retreat you made happen. You’ll see in my recent posts I talk a lot about coming together, meeting, being WITH people in our field, so that really resonated with me!
Man thanks so much for reading! Yeah being WITH people, in the same room, is so transformative!
Great post that perfectly captures how real, in-person community can kill the power of social media. In my opinion, social media algorithms and their platforms which give a false sense of "community" have been hugely harmful in a variety of ways: mental health decline, disinformation/misinformation distribution, etc.
So good! I felt pressure around showing up on Instagram for a long time. I just got so tired of creating "content" and not actually creating. Reading posts like this help me to feel that distancing myself from it is more than okay and I'm not alone in it all. Thanks!
Oh, you want to see not alone? Check out this thread I started, filled with people sharing their journey and relationship with social media: https://socialmediaescapeclub.substack.com/p/your-relationship-with-social-media/comments
It's WILD.
Yes! I made a pact with myself last night to stop checking my social media during the day - it's draining and on harder days with the kids it's far too easy to escape into and then feel guilty about, as it directly goes against my goal to not be on my phone around them. It's so easy to forget that the community you've built on a social platform probably isn't even aware of what you're putting out there half the time, and is such a creativity killer. A mood killer, too, because sometimes you do put a lot of effort in and then find yourself thinking "well, engagement was low, I must be crap"
Ps 100 new subs since last week! Check you out! Very well deserved
"I MUST BE CRAP." Yep. No one cares! And it's not that no one cares, it's that no one KNOWS. We THINK we're keeping up with everyone, but we see 3 or 4 things, and the rest are ads or promoted accounts, or whatever.
Love the line about how Social Media loses its power! So True - Brilliant! Loved it, count me in!
You're in - let's go!
“Social media loses power when we build community in other places.” This is brilliant and powerfully put. Like so many others I’ve spent years resenting the expectation to be extremely online — but not sure how to escape from it. This piece makes an amazing argument that the solution has been there, right in front of us, all along.
YEP! please check out this living breathing thread filled with people coming to terms with their own social media journey: https://socialmediaescapeclub.substack.com/p/your-relationship-with-social-media/comments
Wow - amazing to see all these responses. Finally, a place online for people who (mostly) hate being online! This is such an important, healthy thing to normalize - thank you.
You're welcome! Just trying to do my part so we can all get away from our laptops and go do other stuff haha
I struggle with these cold hard facts often. Social media has this torturous grip on my brain to the point where I detox from it and I feel like something is missing…
Seems like all those well-paid execs and engineers at those billion dollar companies are doing their job then, huh? WHEW! You're not the only one feeling this - check out this thread I made, I bet you'll find a lot of people dealing with what you're talking about: https://socialmediaescapeclub.substack.com/p/your-relationship-with-social-media/comments
Oh fabulous, thank you for sharing this, I really appreciate it
This is very true. Being in the weeds with social media metrics every month, it’s fairly common to see organic reach (% of total followers who see a typical post) hover between 20 and 40 percent for every channel. Certainly there are spikes that exceed that from time to time, but it’s tough sledding for sure.
Oooooh, so you're IN IT, doing the best stuff possible, and 60-80% of followers still aren't seeing posts, which is such a bummer! Tough sledding, indeed!
This post relieved so much social media anxiety. I feel the weight of its importance melting away as I read. Thank you.
You are so welcome. Please check out a Thread I made, where a whole bunch of people have left comments about their relationship with social media. You're not alone by any means: https://socialmediaescapeclub.substack.com/p/your-relationship-with-social-media/comments
I already commented on someone’s Restack, but thought I’d share here as well. I feel like this post came out at the right time for me as I have been strongly contemplating abandoning my efforts on the big social media platforms because of the reasons in this post. Great read!