Much To My Chagrin
I’ve fought to return to any Meta products and I found the Fediverse. It’s “a collection of social networking services that can communicate with each other” according to Wikipedia at the time that I’m typing this. I took time away from TikTok, also. And Pixelfed and Counter Social are much preferred if I want to have a real conversation with strangers. But they are not what I need if I’m to reach a customer base.
I therefore don’t think of Instagram as a Social Media platform anymore. It’s an advertising platform. A networking site to find customers. I think that’s a very realistic view of it. And thinking on that, I won’t be returning to Facebook. My mental health is so much better for leaving that site behind. I just became sick of all of the hate spread on that site. It monetizes divisive clashes between strangers.
The link to my Instagram is therefore back at the top of my website pages. Top of the top bar. But I’m also leaving in place my links to Pixelfed (a Fediverse Instagram) and Counter Social (a Fediverse Twitter). Blue Sky is also Fediverse, but I looked at it and it’s way closer to Twitter than I care for. Counter Social is calm. And so too is Pixelfed.
What I’m saying is, they’ve become more like my actual friendly curious voice online. Instagram is my professional I am self-promoting my small business voice online. And YouTube will be a mix of both. I have plans to amalgamate my TikTok posts together and upload them to YouTube.
When I left Facebook last time, I had tried to take breaks from it before. I now know I have no need for it and I’m not going back to it. I would quit Instagram for good, too; if I could. But I really need a reliable way to reach new customers and clients. Either way, I will not spend one single advertising dollar on Meta services ever again. I will work on getting my views up on Instagram in as organic a way as possible. I can only hope the algorythm is on my side when I post.
As for TikTok, I’m using it as something of an editor before I post videos to Instagram. If you want to follow me for video only content, you can choose TikTok. If you’re interested in reels and carousels and photos, maybe follow the Instagram feed… though I also include the most recent posts at the bottom of my webpage in the footer section.