I've decided to stop being loyal. Funny decision, you might say. Dangerous, even. I'll explain.
We've ended up in a digital world that broadly no longer respects us. Platforms, in particular, have become the equivalent of sticky flypaper. They trap us inside algorithms, with hollow visual tactics, and even if they CAN be spaces for learning (with serious curation work), they've mostly become spaces for wasting time. Creators doing honest sharing work are lost in the sea of optimization.
The most radical solution is to stop using them altogether. To stop setting foot on Instagram and the likes. To give up the algorithms. To build in your own corner of the web.
I'm genuinely tempted. But the problem is, you're not in my corner. And if we want to create a world where innovation and the sharing of ideas are possible, where we can make a living from this work, at a sufficient scale, and accessible to everyone… We still need to make ourselves known, and find interesting people to follow.
We could advocate for the return of libraries as space for sharing, to the web of the forum era, to word of mouth. But I don't think that's realistic. At least not yet. And probably not with some SORT of platform use.
The only current solution that actually holds up is to prioritize the mailing list. An email list (with real people reading on the other end), that you can take with you wherever your needs and desires lead. That's why I like Substack (you can export your subscribers and leave the platform at any time.)
I genuinely believe this is the heart of the solution: distribution flexibility. That's why I treat my socials, Substack Notes, my YouTube channel, and all the social media circus as second-tier spaces. I can't take them seriously as creative partners. Because they're not. To these platforms, I'm just another account. So to me, they're just interchangeable entry points.
I call it strategic disloyalty.
And this is a rough list of what it entails :
- not confusing your followers for your audience
- having a way out
- having your own website where you take people regularly (and not just to get their emails and sell stuff)
- actually make your website a cool place to be (see : reasons to have your own website)
- not thinking you NEED to be HYPER consistent on your youtube or whatever
- take breaks to rest
- don't accept shitty new functions because 'they'll boost your visibility'
- use social media to be social before anything else
- don't be shy to recommend your website and other people's website
- actually always link to people's website and NOT their socials
- find ways to post that ENRICH you
- be a hyper curator (this should be a post)
- don't take recommendations as creative rules
- add back your own creative rules / think about the way you WANT to do thing / having standards
- puuuuush back
- sell stuff
- don't rely on ad money