I Hate Social Media But Need It for Business (and Other Lies)

We are a couple decades down the social media rabbit hole now, and I have miles to go before I sleep. (I think that’s how the poem goes?) I want to be the sort of person who makes relatable viral content on social media while simultaneously being the sort of person who throws her phone into the sea and putters around in a dusty old library for the rest of her days. That is to say that I hate social media but need it for business.

Do we actually NEED social media?

I don’t know if there is a correct answer, but this post will attempt to make it clear that maybe the idea we need social media for business is false.

I mean, it has to be. I know very few business owners who have a social media following big enough to sustain the work they do. And honestly, if you’re doing the work, you probably don’t have time for social media. Plus, if you factor in the way algorithms work, it’s almost impossible for people to find you on social media.

That isn’t to say that I don’t have loyal blog readers who found me on social media. But the majority of you have definitely found me on Pinterest, YouTube, through organic search, or by signing up for my newsletter. So, clearly, social media doesn’t do a lot for me.

And I can’t help but wonder if I need to continue to subject myself to it.

I’m Starting to Hate Social Media

Just kidding. I’ve always hated it.

I remember hanging out with some friends in college and how they made me set up a Facebook account. The site had existed for about a year at that point, and I was the only person not on the site. (Or so they said.)

So I used my college email address to create a profile, and then uploaded one picture and added a list of things to my likes, which then sat as clickable links on my profile. I still have a Facebook profile, even though it doesn’t look anything like it did back in the day. I check in maybe once a week, and I clear out my notifications without checking them and mark all the messages as read without reading them.

Why? Well. I hate that platform. And honestly, if what people have to say to me is important, they know how to use my…