Founder of the Social Media Escape Club
Like it or not, some folks are going to settle for crap AI to fill up the sections on their business websites, or write bios for their bands.
But those aren’t our clients. We don’t wanna work with them anyways.
You and I are going to work with people who would never THINK to use AI for that sort of thing. We’re not seeking clients who are looking for shortcuts. If they want a shortcut, they’re likely not reaching out to us.
Good resource: Social media-free business from Dave Smyth.
Talking about leaving social media lately has become less about the logistics and technology and more about the people. Just… PEOPLE.
Like, knowing every single answer to everyone’s situation of moving away from social media is impossible, but talking about the process. Figuring out what feels right. Talking about the flow and rhythm, the natural vibes of how you want to operate.
Less about tactics and more about the conversations we can have to figure these things out.
I did a workshop about ABOUT PAGES recently, and did it without trying to be the authority, or the instructor, the EXPERT. No PowerPoint, just vibes.
But people learned and figured things out from the group dynamic. We’re all in this together, learning together, sharing our collective knowledge and experiences for the better of the group.
Let people get lost in your world.
If you’re an artist, and you’re shoveling everything onto social media, you’re missing the fuck out.
Every smart phone ships with a web browser.
Not everyone has a Facebook account anymore in 2025.
No one in the U.S. can install TikTok right now.
People are ditching Instagram and Twitter because of reasons.
You might not realize this, but some people fucking love music.
Like, that get band names and lyrics tattooed on their bodies. They wear nothing but band shirts. They dig through bins at record shops. They go to shows on Tuesday night.
The people who just load up automated playlists? Those aren’t your people.
Give people who discover you the ability to fall in fucking love with what you do.
If people find your music on YouTube, or Spotify, or Bandcamp, they can click on a URL and be on your website.
But if you website is just everything you already have on YouTube, and Spotify (a bunch of embeds), and a link to Bandsintown, well, what’s the point?
People still buy vinyl and CDs and cassettes. Yeah, a lot of people stream music these days, too, but fuck them.
Let people fall in love with you.
Give me a fucking bio. Where are you even from? What other bands were you in?
Stop posting every god damn bit of promo, behind the scenes, and assorted other photos on social media platforms and put that shit on your website.
Let people fall into your world and get lost in how damn cool you are.
Uploading all your cool vibes and good taste to fucking Facebook? In 2025? For 96% of your “followers” to never see?
In this economy?
From One Thing’s ‘The new rules of media‘ from December:
“Rely on nothing you can’t take with you. For now, Substack email lists and Stripe charges are still portable. If they weren’t, I would move to Ghost, because Substack’s incentive is to get you as locked in as possible. (Patreon still keeps your Stripe info, therefore fuck Patreon.) The same goes for audiences: Direct traffic, through homepages or email inboxes, is the most reliable because no one can take it from you, but it’s the hardest to cultivate.”
Discoverability is a myth propped up on social media’s legion of bots and active users. Yes, some people won, but that had to happen, so other people could see the lottery winners and believe they could win, too.
From Noah Kalina:
I was out taking pictures and I made a picture that I really like. I was working on it and I was like, “This is so good.” And I was like, “What am I going to do with this?”
My natural inclination is to want to post it on the internet, but why? I almost feel like it’s embarrassing to post things on the internet now.
More thoughts here.
From ‘Her dad, the 10,000 records he left behind and a viral lesson in grief:‘
“Since September, the 24-year-old Polish Canadian woman has held a daily “listening party” on her Instagram and TikTok pages, @soundwavesoffwax, to explore decades and genres of music that her father, Richard, loved — punk, disco, pop, jazz, techno, new wave and ’60s psych rock. The project has exploded online, resonating with more than 460,000 followers combined so far — and she still has nearly 10,000 records to go.”
It’s sad that those vinyl records will outlive those social media channels, though.
(via HackerNews)
We need to stop living a post-first existence.
We’re writing our messages on the beach, knowing the ocean will come in and wash it away. We post to keep the algorithms from getting mad, to remind our audience that we have things to say multiple times per day, throughout the week, month after month.
I spoke with Frederick Woodruff how a musician friend of mine keeps making connection without being on any social media platforms (above). Watch the full clip below!
So Substack has partnered with The Free Press. Check out the comments on that post to see how that’s going. Oh, and Substack has a N*gger Problem.
Jesus christ and merry christmas, huh?
This has me thinking about leaving Substack, where I set up my Social Media Escape Club newsletter back in 2021. This was long before they rolled out their Twitter clone called Substack Notes, which has ushered in some major social-media-like vibes.
So yeah, Substack has sort of become social media.
I mean, I love that it’s been the driver of subscribers for me, to the tune of 4,500 people on my email list. But holy moly, being associated with this company is a mental drag.
Thinking of moving my operation to Buttondown, which will cost me $79/mo, but at least it will be without the drama and the 10% cut.
