Social Media and Conscience

As an indie creator I rely on social media, and how I so wish I didn't!

Social media is probably 90% of how myself and other indie creators reach their audience. Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter... or "X" if I must, are a place for us to shamelessly promote our wares and foist our creations on an audience. And in this modern age, this is very much the best place to do this. It may not be as effective as we'd like and we may get lost in the noise of millions all vying for attention, but it's better than nothing.

Setting aside whether social media is an effective platform for self promotion or not, other frustrations present themselves. Those of associations. I am not going to go into detail as we all know what it happening in the world right now, but I'll just say that I do not like Elon Musk, and it is a dislike that continues to grow. As a left leaning individual, who believes in equity, fairness and human rights, Elon Musk and his allegiance with Trump, stands against everything I stand for, and it seems each passing day reveals some new horrendousness, from attacking the trans community to blatantly throwing Nazi salutes on the inauguration stage. I have already drifted away from the platform formerly known as Twitter, making little use of my profile there, which is a shame as I made some great contacts and friends there, and it was once the best platform for my audience growth and engagement. Something that fell off the instant Musk took control. I find myself closer and closer to simply deleting my account.

Since the downfall of Twitter, what was once my least successful platform for engagement, became my best, being Facebook. Along with Instagram, being part of the same Meta family. But Zuckerberg has done little to ingratiate himself of late, from also throwing his hat in the ring with Trump, to removing all fact checking from his platform, he happily provides a platform for misinformation and hate.

So what to do? The truth of the matter is, social media is big business, and no matter where you go, there is likely some despicable person behind it. Maybe that's cynical of me, but I'm sure I'm not far wrong. It is likely my Twitter will soon disappear, I cannot conscionably use a product controlled by a man so immoral and so despicable as Elon Musk.
I will probably continue to use Facebook and Instagram, as well as threads, despite my reservations. A lesser of two evils scenario I guess. And I'm giving Bluesky a go. I've just created my account which you can find here.

I am however going to try and use my site here more prominently in an attempt to replace social media with it. And you can help me in that by subscribing below so as to get notifications when I post. Alternatively (or also) you can sign up to my newsletter above to keep up to date with what is happening.