Thanks so much for sharing a simple, not overwhelming example for how to use social media! I appreciate you encouraging us to take care of ourselves while using social media. It can be way too much at times.
That's really insightful, thanks! Giving our brains time to recover from the constant online noise seems really important! Maybe being on social media all the time is another way to get sensory overstimulation.
Oh I hear you. I’ve felt a lot calmer and more centred since deleting insta. I wouldn’t have got through last week at work if I had it I don’t think it’s been so mad! I’ve broken lots of my own rules 😆
This sounds wonderful, but I'm so busy 😂 I'm really struggling with IG right now. I love what the platform could be for me, but I feel so trapped by the algorithms. I'm doing all the "right" things for authentic engagement but nothing is working to convert 🤷🏼♀️ What's your YouTube channel?
Oh I hear you. I’ve felt a lot calmer and more centred since deleting insta. I wouldn’t have got through last week at work if I had it I don’t think it’s been so mad! I’ve broken lots of my own rules 😆
Thanks Claire. I have recently moved my newsletter from LinkedIn and am loving the energy! I am slightly daunted at building up my audience again, but excited too. I’ll still post on LinkedIn, but more signposting.
Ahh see I didn’t even know linked in did an newsletter function I am very new there!! How’s it been? Could you move your subscribers over? I did that with mailchimp. ✨ 📧
It does work well, but I wanted a refresh. I don’t think I can as I don’t own the data. I did an email to let them know it was moving, but only a handful did. A bit gutted as I had 1800 subscribers! Maybe it’s because it’s not as well know. I’ll just have to see if I can entice them over! 🤷♀️
I really enjoy using Instagram but am limiting my time there at the moment and creating more space for personal stories over business content. It’s the season I’m in so I’m rolling with it! And hoping it doesn’t completely undo years of connection. I trust that people are interested in all of me...not just branding 🙂
Also, thank you SO much for recommending my Substack. Just spotted that and felt very glowy after your wee write up 💛
Ahh I hear you and you know there are so many ways with maternity leave aren’t there... I defo had a slower time and then ramped everything up around my project; Creativity Island for Mums. We’ve got a guest blog op coming out tomorrow on Company of Two if you fancy that - there’s absolutely no rush we just wanted to do it to keep offering our community lovely gifts. Hope you’ve had a nice day. 💝✨ 🧑🍼
That sounds exciting! I’d like to carry on connecting in a lighter way, and would of course love to grow my community here, so any guest blog opportunities are welcome. It’s just a matter of timing with me though as I have a few upcoming writing commitments 😬💛
Words fail me a little reading this and then through all the conversation (and it is an actual proper, beautiful conversation, not just a set of responses..) that echos so much my own thoughts. I’ve tried strategies with social posts but each time I lose track and don’t keep up, I berate myself for being a failure - so I’m not trying any strategy and trying to not let the slow deterioration of followers not bother me.. it’s work in progress. I can’t begin to describe how at home I feel being in this space on substack having beautiful conversations 💛
It’s so interesting how creating space and the tone set here has us feeling anything but disposable! I made peace with the insta numbers going up and down but when people stopped commenting and chatting I was just stunned - it didn’t feel like to talk to no one so I changed what I posted and really lost my way... my account is such a hybrid of creative work, motherhood and slow lived life I think it’s too complex for people who “don’t know” me... a break is doing me the world of good!! ✨🥰✨ do you have some holiday from numbers so you can draw more mer people?! ✨ 🧜♀️✨🌀❤️
I get lots of people wanting me to look at their 💗 videos!! 😱😱 I do miss the pictures though when I don’t visit so often. I love seeing beautiful photography and artwork
The numbers are a little all consuming these days, but my cunning plan is to work towards becoming self employed again, with the numbery stuff doing the heavy lifting to allow freedom for my creative side to do exactly that!
That's so exciting! There are honestly so many of us creatives who need an accountant who understands creative work - i'm on a group in the North East with 3000 of them! <3
Im getting excited 😆 which makes me smile to be excited by the number crunching again!!! I’ve already got my new publication name ready, “Counting Beans”, just need to do all the other work to get it up and running now...
That is exciting well honestly if you need to test the water with 3000 north east creatives let me know - I fired my accountant a couple of years ago for making a massive mistake and leaving me past myself when Luna was a month old and it exhausts me to do my own!
Thank you, wow yes that would be fab (terrifying but fab 😂). That’s pretty awful about your old accountant making a big mistake at any time, let alone such a crucial one. But helpful to hear in a way for me. I am currently assuming that ‘everyone’ already has an accountant who is awesome and gives them all they need, or they’re happy doing it themselves...
What I find frustrating about Instagram is that people will follow you and not ‘like’ the posts/stories and then if you don’t follow them back they will ‘unfollow’, this messes with my head and I am constantly checking to see if I have new followers and why some people have way more followers than me! It’s not good for my mental health and as per Tamzin’s advice I may take a summer break and come back fresh in September. Great thread btw Claire, you have started a fantastic conversation here. 💜🙏
I always love your authenticity here, Claire. I had a realization the other day about my Instagram usage and how it's really not serving me. Ever since getting back from our trip, I've been mindlessly scrolling a ton and have noticed that I feel more confused/disheartened by my own work and ideas than ever. I definitely think it's because I'm seeing so many ideas and content online that I can't take in my own, and I make everyone else's my own. I never thought I was 'easily influenced' but I'm coming to accept that I am, and that's a hard pill to swallow. I still want to find a way to use Instagram going forward, but definitely re-evaluating where I'm at. Thankfully Substack has been nothing but positive inspiration for me, I think the long posts give us more of a story behind the person and you can't do the scrolling you do on Instagram or TikTok. Makes me more grateful for Substack than I thought!
Anyway, thanks for bringing this conversation forward and sharing your thoughts on it all.
Ah what a beautiful compliment Hunter - that means such a lot! 💜✉️✨ Firstly I’d just say your presence both here and on the gram is stunning and I wondered how I had never “found” you and some of the other substackers I’ve connected with over there before... then I realised “oh it’s because I’m stuck in a loop” - hours of posting and creating stories and making reels and some chat within my community but very little space out of my own echo chamber there...
As a creative it was impossible for me to accept... 2017-2023 only on Instagram and a teeny bit on my blog - learning to cultivate my creative voice but feeling equally stifled every time I went to share it and the responses were minimal...
I met a photographer on Monday and he got 16k Instagram followers because his work was profiled in one of their emails - I didn’t even know they did that. He said he hardly posts or comments and doesn’t do any of the “things you’re meant to to grow”
Blew my mind!
It’s complex... I try and remember to complement people because it matters... what’s reflected back really really matters.
I also think it’s really possible as a creative to show up and share your creativity, creative voice, your art and feel accomplished in that... but it’s a practise because the internet and social media is only part of the story isn’t it...
My proudest creative moment this year was seeing my photography project in an academic journal and no one online even knows it’s happened...
Ahh yes I feel the same about you! I found so many people I'm so inspired by to this day through taking Sara Tasker's Instagram class and connecting with them there, otherwise I would have never found most of the people I love to follow online.
Instagram is so tricky these days, and there are so many ways to get discovered and yet it's harder than ever. I feel like I've tried for so long and haven't really reaped many rewards, so I don't really have an answer for where to go from here. I guess it's just about continuing to follow what lights you up and not think so much about the algorithm, but it's hard being a creative online, that's for sure.
And yes! I love that you mentioned that about being a creative offline. There's sooo much more I've created & shared offline than online that I'm proud of, but for some reason finding "success" online is still something I deeply desire (I guess for the freedom aspects of it?). Such an interesting thing to think about, for sure.
Ooo yes I hear you on all this... my group chats from the insta retreat on Instagram are quiet - I think everyone is either distracted, busy or purposeful in other areas... I really did try and deepen connection with folks but I found it hard and that kinda makes you feel like you’re sat on your own eating lunch at your new school (yes this happened) 😆
I feel like collaboration and co-creation with others or with your audience is still the most exciting part of my practise and although I used to just want to be reconsider for being a beacon of creativity I think I couldn’t quite grasp what I wanted to share (from interiors, to motherhood, to my project work) so now I’m set and excited for a refresh and pivot back on the gram come Sept...
I might also clear out my account which I’ve avoided doing because of “numbers” but actually I think it is good advice!
Do you follow Mya Nicholl over there? She’s my fave to learn from - her podcasts are great too. She’s a little different to my other teachers but she cuts straight to it! Cx
Yeah it seems that community has fallen off, but I am grateful I found a few accounts for inspiration there!
Oh I totally get the sitting on your own thing-- I mean, I was homeschooled but I felt like an outsider pretty much always haha
I definitely feel the same way!! I have so many 'niches' I want to focus on that I struggle focusing on anything. It's hard when we are multi-passionate beings to kind of put ourself in a specific box online, but I think that's how most people grow. I am trying to separate myself as a person from myself as an online business and seeing how that feels.
I love the idea of clearing out your account! It definitely messes with numbers but I think it's worth it to find your real tribe!
Ooh I don't! I just tried looking her up but I couldn't find her account-- what's her username?
OH YES! I actually do follow her and love her work! I don't know why I blanked when I saw her name initially hahah
I was homeschooled from 1st grade, so definitely have a lot to share! I honestly loved my experience so much. Feel free to reach out whenever, I am happy to chat about it with you :)
Ah so true! Photography and video is another love of mine, too.
When you said "I never thought I was 'easily influenced' but I'm coming to accept that I am, and that's a hard pill to swallow", Yup, absolutely! I never thought I was either, but I have items in my house that attest to the fact that I am 🤦♀️
I changed the way I dealt with Instagram last year, when I realized it was just bringing me down. I didn't like how I felt after not getting enough likes on a post and then chastising myself for even getting upset in the first place. So, then I was just in stories for the longest time and just hung out there. Right now, I am on there but not posting, because I really want to change how I use it and what that would look like. I am not keen on closing out my account and not being on there, I absolutely want to be active on there, but I need to figure how that is going to look like, if that makes sense. I love that you said you are doing a pivot back on to the gram come September Claire, that is exciting! 😊
Yes I totally get that! I was really into posting for the longest time but once all the updates came through and the algorithm changed, I just took a step back and stopped posting and it felt so freeing! But now I kind of want to return to more regular posting but I just can't figure out what I want to post half the time! It sounds like we're in the same boat!
Ah I resonate with so much of this - I really enjoyed stories for a while there! Yes I want to pivot back to sharing only my project work again... I loved doing that! It was just an out pouring of creativity and Instagram was a great container for it...
I'll throw my 2 cents in here: I've found Substack to stand out from all other social media. I've been active in the past on Facebook especially (had a pretty big following for a while), and the quality of a couple hundred connections here is just so much more meaningful than a few thousand over there.
Plus: this place isn't toxic, and I plan to help keep it that way. It's a safe place for folks to have thoughtful dialogue, which is probably the one thing the world needs more than anything else right now.
Try having a deep, meaningful conversation, in public, on TikTok, YouTube, or Facebook. Let me know how that goes for you.
I've been trying your strategy of posting once a week and deleting the app. It is working wonders! I definitely have connections there who have no interest in Substack. But this way it is not an ongoing energetic drain. Weirdly I am getting the same engagement in one day than I used to over the course of a week. 🤷
I am probably not doing enough on social media... Beyond posting on LinkedIn (where I get decent impressions but zero comments and likes) and sometimes on twitter. I guess I’m just not as concerned about it?
Yes that’s the thing if it’s taking up brain space where creativity could be that’s one thing but if it’s all ticking along and fine then fine hey?! ✨📱✨❤️🙌🏻
Ah social media and its ebbs and flows. One day you are "winning" loving it and see ALL the advantages for your business and the next you want to bury your head in the sand and delete the whole thing. Breaks are definitely good. I also need to rethink how I use it with my kids in mind. C is at an age now where he is aware of it all, he doesn't like his photo being taken and before I know it he will be using it too. So thinking about how to educate him as well... it just changes all the time doesn't it?
I hear you!! Ahh that feels sad and hard doesn’t it as the kids have been a lovely part of your journey on there?
It all changed for me when Creativity Island finished and I’ve had to take a step back from why that is...
I think when you HAVE to use it for work you feel slightly more removed from it for your own stuff... I see it much more as a tool than I ever did before... ✉️❤️
I feel so strange about social media these days. The only one I ever actively posted on was Instagram, but it didn't bring me much, even if I had learnt all of the tricks and how to please the algorithm. But I deleted it from my phone a few months ago, and I just don't miss it in the slightest. I really feel though that I should get back in the game, that I should I should I should. But honestly, I couldn't be bothered!
I used to feel physically sick when people lost their accounts - I realised I was so so attached... it’s been a complicated love affair for sure!!
I’m really happy with my strategy and I have been since Jan really... I think we get to be playful and see how we feel each day don’t we. The apps are playful and entertaining by nature... they are also addictive and de-centring at times! ✨🤦🏽♀️✨💗
I think I need to get back on it, and just find a way of not scrolling or getting distracted by it. I know what you mean, I used to worry about losing my account too!
I feel like for me it’s been the mental clarity. That ole create before you consume and somehow just consuming content here or podcasts doesn’t seem to collide with my creative process...
I am consciously uncoupling from social media, that is my strategy. Do far less. I find it to be mainly white noise. It is working as I feel much calmer and more grounded. X
Thanks so much for sharing a simple, not overwhelming example for how to use social media! I appreciate you encouraging us to take care of ourselves while using social media. It can be way too much at times.
Ah way too much and too much for our brains that actually just want to down regulate more than we perhaps give them space for? ✨💜✨🎁
That's really insightful, thanks! Giving our brains time to recover from the constant online noise seems really important! Maybe being on social media all the time is another way to get sensory overstimulation.
Oh I hear you. I’ve felt a lot calmer and more centred since deleting insta. I wouldn’t have got through last week at work if I had it I don’t think it’s been so mad! I’ve broken lots of my own rules 😆
It’s here - https://youtube.com/@creativelyconsciousUK
I’m very new there Sarah! 🙈
This sounds wonderful, but I'm so busy 😂 I'm really struggling with IG right now. I love what the platform could be for me, but I feel so trapped by the algorithms. I'm doing all the "right" things for authentic engagement but nothing is working to convert 🤷🏼♀️ What's your YouTube channel?
Oh I hear you. I’ve felt a lot calmer and more centred since deleting insta. I wouldn’t have got through last week at work if I had it I don’t think it’s been so mad! I’ve broken lots of my own rules 😆
It’s here - https://youtube.com/@creativelyconsciousUK
I’m very new there Sarah! 🙈
Thanks Claire. I have recently moved my newsletter from LinkedIn and am loving the energy! I am slightly daunted at building up my audience again, but excited too. I’ll still post on LinkedIn, but more signposting.
Ahh see I didn’t even know linked in did an newsletter function I am very new there!! How’s it been? Could you move your subscribers over? I did that with mailchimp. ✨ 📧
It does work well, but I wanted a refresh. I don’t think I can as I don’t own the data. I did an email to let them know it was moving, but only a handful did. A bit gutted as I had 1800 subscribers! Maybe it’s because it’s not as well know. I’ll just have to see if I can entice them over! 🤷♀️
Hmm I don’t know how it works I’ll do some digging - so you didn’t have their emails? How did the newsletter function work?
Thanks Claire, they just press a subscribe button and are automatically added.
Ohh... and then what email service powers it after that?
You write the article in LinkedIn and it gets sent from there.
I really enjoy using Instagram but am limiting my time there at the moment and creating more space for personal stories over business content. It’s the season I’m in so I’m rolling with it! And hoping it doesn’t completely undo years of connection. I trust that people are interested in all of me...not just branding 🙂
Also, thank you SO much for recommending my Substack. Just spotted that and felt very glowy after your wee write up 💛
Ahh I hear you and you know there are so many ways with maternity leave aren’t there... I defo had a slower time and then ramped everything up around my project; Creativity Island for Mums. We’ve got a guest blog op coming out tomorrow on Company of Two if you fancy that - there’s absolutely no rush we just wanted to do it to keep offering our community lovely gifts. Hope you’ve had a nice day. 💝✨ 🧑🍼
That sounds exciting! I’d like to carry on connecting in a lighter way, and would of course love to grow my community here, so any guest blog opportunities are welcome. It’s just a matter of timing with me though as I have a few upcoming writing commitments 😬💛
Words fail me a little reading this and then through all the conversation (and it is an actual proper, beautiful conversation, not just a set of responses..) that echos so much my own thoughts. I’ve tried strategies with social posts but each time I lose track and don’t keep up, I berate myself for being a failure - so I’m not trying any strategy and trying to not let the slow deterioration of followers not bother me.. it’s work in progress. I can’t begin to describe how at home I feel being in this space on substack having beautiful conversations 💛
It’s so interesting how creating space and the tone set here has us feeling anything but disposable! I made peace with the insta numbers going up and down but when people stopped commenting and chatting I was just stunned - it didn’t feel like to talk to no one so I changed what I posted and really lost my way... my account is such a hybrid of creative work, motherhood and slow lived life I think it’s too complex for people who “don’t know” me... a break is doing me the world of good!! ✨🥰✨ do you have some holiday from numbers so you can draw more mer people?! ✨ 🧜♀️✨🌀❤️
I used to get a bit of conversation in Instagram, but never anything like the conversation here 💛
yeah I felt like I had my people who would chat and I would chat too and then it all sort of stopped - the dms even stopped - I dunno it was weird...
I get lots of people wanting me to look at their 💗 videos!! 😱😱 I do miss the pictures though when I don’t visit so often. I love seeing beautiful photography and artwork
Me too I love that stuff maybe I can start a new account??!! 👀
The numbers are a little all consuming these days, but my cunning plan is to work towards becoming self employed again, with the numbery stuff doing the heavy lifting to allow freedom for my creative side to do exactly that!
That's so exciting! There are honestly so many of us creatives who need an accountant who understands creative work - i'm on a group in the North East with 3000 of them! <3
Im getting excited 😆 which makes me smile to be excited by the number crunching again!!! I’ve already got my new publication name ready, “Counting Beans”, just need to do all the other work to get it up and running now...
That is exciting well honestly if you need to test the water with 3000 north east creatives let me know - I fired my accountant a couple of years ago for making a massive mistake and leaving me past myself when Luna was a month old and it exhausts me to do my own!
Thank you, wow yes that would be fab (terrifying but fab 😂). That’s pretty awful about your old accountant making a big mistake at any time, let alone such a crucial one. But helpful to hear in a way for me. I am currently assuming that ‘everyone’ already has an accountant who is awesome and gives them all they need, or they’re happy doing it themselves...
What I find frustrating about Instagram is that people will follow you and not ‘like’ the posts/stories and then if you don’t follow them back they will ‘unfollow’, this messes with my head and I am constantly checking to see if I have new followers and why some people have way more followers than me! It’s not good for my mental health and as per Tamzin’s advice I may take a summer break and come back fresh in September. Great thread btw Claire, you have started a fantastic conversation here. 💜🙏
I always love your authenticity here, Claire. I had a realization the other day about my Instagram usage and how it's really not serving me. Ever since getting back from our trip, I've been mindlessly scrolling a ton and have noticed that I feel more confused/disheartened by my own work and ideas than ever. I definitely think it's because I'm seeing so many ideas and content online that I can't take in my own, and I make everyone else's my own. I never thought I was 'easily influenced' but I'm coming to accept that I am, and that's a hard pill to swallow. I still want to find a way to use Instagram going forward, but definitely re-evaluating where I'm at. Thankfully Substack has been nothing but positive inspiration for me, I think the long posts give us more of a story behind the person and you can't do the scrolling you do on Instagram or TikTok. Makes me more grateful for Substack than I thought!
Anyway, thanks for bringing this conversation forward and sharing your thoughts on it all.
Ah what a beautiful compliment Hunter - that means such a lot! 💜✉️✨ Firstly I’d just say your presence both here and on the gram is stunning and I wondered how I had never “found” you and some of the other substackers I’ve connected with over there before... then I realised “oh it’s because I’m stuck in a loop” - hours of posting and creating stories and making reels and some chat within my community but very little space out of my own echo chamber there...
As a creative it was impossible for me to accept... 2017-2023 only on Instagram and a teeny bit on my blog - learning to cultivate my creative voice but feeling equally stifled every time I went to share it and the responses were minimal...
I met a photographer on Monday and he got 16k Instagram followers because his work was profiled in one of their emails - I didn’t even know they did that. He said he hardly posts or comments and doesn’t do any of the “things you’re meant to to grow”
Blew my mind!
It’s complex... I try and remember to complement people because it matters... what’s reflected back really really matters.
I also think it’s really possible as a creative to show up and share your creativity, creative voice, your art and feel accomplished in that... but it’s a practise because the internet and social media is only part of the story isn’t it...
My proudest creative moment this year was seeing my photography project in an academic journal and no one online even knows it’s happened...
✨🤷🏽♀️✨
Ahh yes I feel the same about you! I found so many people I'm so inspired by to this day through taking Sara Tasker's Instagram class and connecting with them there, otherwise I would have never found most of the people I love to follow online.
Instagram is so tricky these days, and there are so many ways to get discovered and yet it's harder than ever. I feel like I've tried for so long and haven't really reaped many rewards, so I don't really have an answer for where to go from here. I guess it's just about continuing to follow what lights you up and not think so much about the algorithm, but it's hard being a creative online, that's for sure.
And yes! I love that you mentioned that about being a creative offline. There's sooo much more I've created & shared offline than online that I'm proud of, but for some reason finding "success" online is still something I deeply desire (I guess for the freedom aspects of it?). Such an interesting thing to think about, for sure.
Ooo yes I hear you on all this... my group chats from the insta retreat on Instagram are quiet - I think everyone is either distracted, busy or purposeful in other areas... I really did try and deepen connection with folks but I found it hard and that kinda makes you feel like you’re sat on your own eating lunch at your new school (yes this happened) 😆
I feel like collaboration and co-creation with others or with your audience is still the most exciting part of my practise and although I used to just want to be reconsider for being a beacon of creativity I think I couldn’t quite grasp what I wanted to share (from interiors, to motherhood, to my project work) so now I’m set and excited for a refresh and pivot back on the gram come Sept...
I might also clear out my account which I’ve avoided doing because of “numbers” but actually I think it is good advice!
Do you follow Mya Nicholl over there? She’s my fave to learn from - her podcasts are great too. She’s a little different to my other teachers but she cuts straight to it! Cx
Yeah it seems that community has fallen off, but I am grateful I found a few accounts for inspiration there!
Oh I totally get the sitting on your own thing-- I mean, I was homeschooled but I felt like an outsider pretty much always haha
I definitely feel the same way!! I have so many 'niches' I want to focus on that I struggle focusing on anything. It's hard when we are multi-passionate beings to kind of put ourself in a specific box online, but I think that's how most people grow. I am trying to separate myself as a person from myself as an online business and seeing how that feels.
I love the idea of clearing out your account! It definitely messes with numbers but I think it's worth it to find your real tribe!
Ooh I don't! I just tried looking her up but I couldn't find her account-- what's her username?
You’ll find it via contact on her website I think - https://myanichol.com/contact
Oh I’d love to hear more about your home schooling in time... we are wondering about that for our eldest when he turns 11 in a couple of years...
I agree there is still so much inspo to be found - I adore photography and video as a creative medium 💜✉️
OH YES! I actually do follow her and love her work! I don't know why I blanked when I saw her name initially hahah
I was homeschooled from 1st grade, so definitely have a lot to share! I honestly loved my experience so much. Feel free to reach out whenever, I am happy to chat about it with you :)
Ah so true! Photography and video is another love of mine, too.
I really liked your comment here Hunter ✨
Aw thanks so much Mackenzie! I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!
When you said "I never thought I was 'easily influenced' but I'm coming to accept that I am, and that's a hard pill to swallow", Yup, absolutely! I never thought I was either, but I have items in my house that attest to the fact that I am 🤦♀️
Haha right? The amount of things I've bought because an influencer suggested it 😂
Me too! I love all the thoughts and perspectives and all the honesty! 💗💗
I changed the way I dealt with Instagram last year, when I realized it was just bringing me down. I didn't like how I felt after not getting enough likes on a post and then chastising myself for even getting upset in the first place. So, then I was just in stories for the longest time and just hung out there. Right now, I am on there but not posting, because I really want to change how I use it and what that would look like. I am not keen on closing out my account and not being on there, I absolutely want to be active on there, but I need to figure how that is going to look like, if that makes sense. I love that you said you are doing a pivot back on to the gram come September Claire, that is exciting! 😊
Yes I totally get that! I was really into posting for the longest time but once all the updates came through and the algorithm changed, I just took a step back and stopped posting and it felt so freeing! But now I kind of want to return to more regular posting but I just can't figure out what I want to post half the time! It sounds like we're in the same boat!
Ah I resonate with so much of this - I really enjoyed stories for a while there! Yes I want to pivot back to sharing only my project work again... I loved doing that! It was just an out pouring of creativity and Instagram was a great container for it...
I'll throw my 2 cents in here: I've found Substack to stand out from all other social media. I've been active in the past on Facebook especially (had a pretty big following for a while), and the quality of a couple hundred connections here is just so much more meaningful than a few thousand over there.
Plus: this place isn't toxic, and I plan to help keep it that way. It's a safe place for folks to have thoughtful dialogue, which is probably the one thing the world needs more than anything else right now.
Try having a deep, meaningful conversation, in public, on TikTok, YouTube, or Facebook. Let me know how that goes for you.
Thoughtful dialogue yes and more than one comment and reply? Like an actual conversation?!! So much magic!! ✨✨📱✨✨
YOU MEAN WE DON'T HAVE TO SHOUT?!?!?
Haha I mean you could...
I've been trying your strategy of posting once a week and deleting the app. It is working wonders! I definitely have connections there who have no interest in Substack. But this way it is not an ongoing energetic drain. Weirdly I am getting the same engagement in one day than I used to over the course of a week. 🤷
Ah yes that was the strategy before this one!!! Isn’t it wonderful! I was craving the time to come round and delete each week by the end 😆
Oh, I just noticed my post at the end. I wondered where the new comments and notes were coming from! Thank you. 🥰
You’re welcome!! Such a brilliant set of insights and conversations!
Did you ever do Periscope? It was kind of like Instagram Live before Instagram Live.
Ooo no...
I am probably not doing enough on social media... Beyond posting on LinkedIn (where I get decent impressions but zero comments and likes) and sometimes on twitter. I guess I’m just not as concerned about it?
Yes that’s the thing if it’s taking up brain space where creativity could be that’s one thing but if it’s all ticking along and fine then fine hey?! ✨📱✨❤️🙌🏻
Ah social media and its ebbs and flows. One day you are "winning" loving it and see ALL the advantages for your business and the next you want to bury your head in the sand and delete the whole thing. Breaks are definitely good. I also need to rethink how I use it with my kids in mind. C is at an age now where he is aware of it all, he doesn't like his photo being taken and before I know it he will be using it too. So thinking about how to educate him as well... it just changes all the time doesn't it?
I hear you!! Ahh that feels sad and hard doesn’t it as the kids have been a lovely part of your journey on there?
It all changed for me when Creativity Island finished and I’ve had to take a step back from why that is...
I think when you HAVE to use it for work you feel slightly more removed from it for your own stuff... I see it much more as a tool than I ever did before... ✉️❤️
I feel so strange about social media these days. The only one I ever actively posted on was Instagram, but it didn't bring me much, even if I had learnt all of the tricks and how to please the algorithm. But I deleted it from my phone a few months ago, and I just don't miss it in the slightest. I really feel though that I should get back in the game, that I should I should I should. But honestly, I couldn't be bothered!
Oh how gloriously empowered!!!
I used to feel physically sick when people lost their accounts - I realised I was so so attached... it’s been a complicated love affair for sure!!
I’m really happy with my strategy and I have been since Jan really... I think we get to be playful and see how we feel each day don’t we. The apps are playful and entertaining by nature... they are also addictive and de-centring at times! ✨🤦🏽♀️✨💗
I think I need to get back on it, and just find a way of not scrolling or getting distracted by it. I know what you mean, I used to worry about losing my account too!
I feel like for me it’s been the mental clarity. That ole create before you consume and somehow just consuming content here or podcasts doesn’t seem to collide with my creative process...
I am consciously uncoupling from social media, that is my strategy. Do far less. I find it to be mainly white noise. It is working as I feel much calmer and more grounded. X
Ahh that’s so brilliant you’ve noticed it in your body Fiona. There’s such a balance to be found isn’t there? 🤷🏽♀️✨🙌🏻📱