i'm a failure at social media?
radical honesty from a professional communicator
the algorithm loves a pretty face, but it loves even more a vintage blue hat* (a pic of myself with my fav blue hat in my dining room/home art studio)
I’ve been thinking a lot about social media lately—how to best support folks I work with in doing their social media, how I want to engage with it** in my own work, what we need to do in order to find benefit in it while not completely losing the plot. It’s the reason why I made the decision to disengage from the IG account I had created for my Society of Air communications work and funnel all my “professional” work through my Stained Ghost account, making it “official” this weekend***.
With the communications support work I offer folks, you will never hear me make claims around how a particular class or service will help you “gain 10k followers on instagram.”
This isn’t because I don’t understand how the platform works, nor that I can’t develop and implement a strategy that will be helpful in sharing your work and support you in feeling good about it.
The thing is, social media is no longer the space it perhaps once was for having the potential to rocket folks into influencer-style fame (though I also have doubts as to just how ubiquitous such paths to “success” ever were). We are at the point where even people with large followings routinely lament that they are barely getting the views that they once got.
And, what’s incredibly important to keep in mind is that “views”/”likes”/followers do NOT equate to people investing in your work in any meaningful way.
Don’t just take my word for it: recently, in a conversation between Paula Crossfield and Eleanor Beaton (a woman who acts as an advisor to “billion-dollar women CEOs”) during Paula’s “Cosmic Business Salon” series, they agreed that the number of followers/someone’s “reach” on instagram literally means nothing in terms of whether or not that person is “successful.”
I have worked professionally in communications for over two decades, with much of that being in the digital realm. I was an early adopter of IG, and LOVED it—the visual aspect, the connection, the inspiration and ability to share in the work of amazing artists and creatives all over the globe. I loved having a platform to share my own work and delighted in creating beautiful, thoughtful posts for my work and others. I gleefully created IG accounts for every project or business I began over the years (approximately 10 (!) of them), and poured my energy and time into building them, cultivating community and content, turning to these accounts as the cornerstones of marketing my work. I sucked up education around developing “successful social media marketing strategies” and excitedly shared what I learned with my clients and in my various communications jobs, helping them put tactics into play to grow their audiences, promote their offerings, and just make their work look good.
And, despite all this enthusiasm, all this joy, all my professional know-how, experience and commitment, all the time I spent faithfully feeding the fires of original content creation in order to ultimately line Mark Zuckerberg’s pockets, I have never reached “even” 1,000 followers on any of my accounts.
Now. The most glaring reason for this is my double gemini nature of having the aforementioned 10 accounts (what can I say? It’s been a winding path).**** Maybe if I would have stuck with ONE account, I’d be sailing in IG bliss of low level influencer levels scratching, IDK, 5K followers?
This is an incredibly vulnerable confession for me to make, because it is so intensely linked to some of my deepest insecurities: that I’m a moron, a failure and clearly terrible at my work—and how could I claim to “help” people with their social media accounts if I’m so clearly shit at it?
And, even darker: maybe I have never been able, in all these years, to crack that 1,000 follower mark because I am an annoying, uncool, loser that everyone (sans the less than 1,000 people that make up one account following) hates?
Yikes.
I share this because THIS IS THE KIND OF SHIT PLATFORMS LIKE IG PREY UPON—they are built and operate specifically to keep our eyeballs on their chaotic content, scouring our minds and clawing into the deepest recesses of our psyches NOT for the betterment of society, nor the health of small business, nor improvement in happiness and life satisfaction, nor exchange of ideas, but for the profit and control of those at the very top.
My insecurity and resulting low-self worth as reflected in the number of people following a stupid instagram account does literally NOTHING to help me and everything to benefit Marky Zuck and his bros.
The things I know about social media from years of working with it personally and as a “professional” communications practitioner come to this:
While there IS benefit to having an active profile on your platform of choice…
It is no longer the most effective way for the vast majority of folks to share/market their work
It can take massive amounts of time, energy and attention from you for very little pay off—and thus, it is ESSENTIAL to find ways to utilize these platforms that work for you, rooted in the intentions of what YOU want to get out of them
Focusing your efforts on avenues beyond social media to build and connect with your people is also essential
Even when you do all the the “best practices” and tricks, you may never see a huge upswing in your following and/or a direct correlation with income generation/opportunities/success
There’s an entire industry based on “maximizing” your social media presence that is deeply rooted in systems of domination, harm and exploitation—and it’s up to YOU to be aware and choose how you want to operate within social media, even if it goes against what the “experts” say
“Success” on social media is not created in a vacuum—it is almost always dependent on other platforms/connections/existing success, etc.
When you look at your “social media stats” as a reflection of your inherent worth (or lack there of), it becomes a mirror through which you believe the story that those numbers tell you
Further more, the metrics of social media continue the dehumanizing of late stage capitalism through the lens of technology, reducing people and their actions to simple numbers. For instance, I mention this “failure” on my part to never garner 1,000 “followers” on any IG account—as though I wouldn’t be SHITTING myself if I had 900-some folks in a room listening to me talk.
So yes, I’ve never achieved that 1,000 follower mark, but what about all of the amazing things that have come from being on this platform for over a decade? All the relationships I’ve built, all the wonderful experiences I’ve had, all of the great things I’ve been able to put out into the world and share with people and connect over, all the ways in which I’ve been able to support others and they’ve been able to support me? And…what about all of the people who HAVE been so generous with their attention to decide to “follow” what I have to share with the world???
It’s also worth noting that while utilizing a tool like Instagram has definitely helped to deepen my relationships and support of various folks’ work, it’s very rarely been the place where I originally encountered them—a reminder that finding other spaces to connect with others—especially in real life!—is necessary.
Yes, social media can be a TOOL, but it is not THE end all and be all for connecting and sharing, and it most certainly should not be an indicator of our—or our work’s—value and worth…even if you are working as a professional marketer.
This is all to say that again, while there IS a continued benefit to having some social media presence for your work, it really lies within us to be mindful of how we operate within it—and what stories we allow it to tell us about ourselves and our work.
*not actual marketing advice
**Fully recognizing that I’m equating Instagram to “all social media” here. This is because it is my social media platform of choice, having dumped Facebook years ago and only going on in the most begrudging of ways and I honestly hate video on social media so why would I ever join TikTok and Twitter/x (I just can’t even), lol. What.
***Which means that if you want to engage with me on IG, Stained Ghost is where it is at! And…if you try to reach out to the Society of Air account and hear radio silence, that’s why.
****Also worth noting that there have been times when I have fallen in and out of love with IG, and thus one could argue that these periods of “lack of activity” also have done nothing to help a supposed “upward trajectory” in reach. I maintain that such breaks and fluctuations of engagement are necessary to sustain working with these tools.
A few more thoughts on navigating the terrain of putting your work out into the world:
If you’d like more support in navigating a path in sharing your work that feels right to YOU, there is still time to join “Share Your Magic.” This course will support you in creating a marketing plan that is aligned with your needs and values and won’t include sinking all of your time in to a hole because it’s THE way to “success” (it’s not). Join now and receive the first week’s replay and supplement and be part of the next three week’s of live calls here!
HIGHLY recommend the most recent Unpublished podcast episode “Our Biggest Failures and What We’ve Learned From Them,” where Amie McNee (who you may know as inspiredtowrite on the IG) and James Winestock get uber vulnerable in sharing about their own experiences with failure. Moral of the story: KEEP GOING!
coming up…
art fun
open studios is coming up!
open studios preview show opening
during arts alive, 6-9 p.m. saturday, may 4
at the ink people’s brenda tuxford gallery in old town, eureka
Get a sneak peek of the work artists will be sharing over Open Studios, which is taking place the first two weekends of June (see below for more deets ;-)) at the Open Studios Preview show this Saturday!
save the date!
north coast open studios, may 31-june 2, june 8-9
shop vintage, art and natural fiber clothing
5118 jacoby creek rd. bayside
It’s gonna be a party when I join Jennifer Harris of Juniper & Sparrow at her home studio in Bayside for Open Studios! Stay tuned for more info on what we’ll be offering and follow Stained Ghost on ig for looks at the hot treasures that will be available!
p.s. you can shop a preview of art and small batch clothing that will be available at Open Studios at Jen’s booth at Shop Sacred this Sunday!
communications support from society of air
there’s still time to join “share your magic”!
share your magic
tuesdays, april 23-may 14 (with optional co-working session thursday, may 9), 6-7 p.m. pst over zoom
this course is offered at a sliding scale
If you feel frozen, overwhelmed or just like you’d rather do absolutely anything else in the world than send that email campaign, write that mission statement for your website or create that reel for your new product launch, know that it IS possible to not feel stuck and anxious every time you think about sharing your work!
Creating an aligned, sustainable marketing plan that is grounded in your needs, values and unique vision can help you get there. There’s still time to join “Share Your Magic”—the course that supports you in creating your plan with an accessible framework, encouragement and tools in four weeks!
Join “Share Your Magic” today and receive the first week’s recording and supplement to get started, and be part of the next three week’s live calls on Tuesday evenings from 6-7 pm pst over zoom (plus take advantage of the bonus optional co-working session Thursday, May 9, 6-7 pm pst to draft your plan!). Learn more about how “Share Your Magic” will give you the tools so you’ll have more space to do your work and focus on the impact that you’re here to create!
Thanks for being here pals! Stay safe and be well!
xo—Holly
let’s connect!
interwebs: stainedghost.com
ig: @stainedghost
paid subscribers get 50% off “share your magic”!
As an extra bonus to those who support this work financially, I’m offering a special 50% off discount for this session of “Share Your Magic.” Discount code is available in this week’s accountability thread ;-).
tell me what you want!
In this on-going experiment/experience of Double Gemini, I’d love to hear from YOU, dear reader, about what YOU’D love to see from this space and my offerings.
This question is posed to all y’all out there, tho it is particularly for those who support this work financially, as I want to provide you with offerings that honor your exchange! I’m so grateful for you in helping make this project happen — so lmk by commenting below what YOU’D like to see in the future from Double Gemini!
weekly accountability threads to support your visions
Paid subscribers receive access to the weekly Society of Air Circle accountability thread every Monday, to share the previous week’s experiences and name the intentions and goals you have for the week to come. Paid subscribers can access this week’s thread here.
Yes to all of this! ❤️