It's Been a Good Run, but the Algorithm Army Wins Again. Peace Out.

Only last week, I wrote a post, Chasing the Joy of Social Media Past, which was about how I engage with the media these days. Today’s post is an update on the ridiculous saga of how my social media may be helpful for me as a full-time writer and M-list public figure.

Again, in the scheme of the world burning down all around us, Facebook Page use is not a big deal, but I know that some of you love this stuff . . . as do I.

Last week, I walked away from 10K-ish followers on Twitter and, at the end of August, I will deactivate my 9,800-follower FB page. While future publishers may not want to hear that I am giving up 20,000 followers. This is the sinister nature of follower count and the increased impact of algorithms. That number is essentially meaningless. The truth is, I don't get that many touches and I get far more meaningful eyeballs on Substack. Both accounts will not be deleted entirely. While X is still up, my FB Page will be deactivated, and neither will be tended to.

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“But why?” you ask. First, my interaction on Twitter has become non-existent, and the interaction stopped being compelling long ago. Dumping X was not a tough call. Second, the updates on my FB Page that received the most traffic had nothing to do with content but personal updates. What used to be a place to share links and info that I discovered along the way, as well as my contributions, now has very little engagement. While I appreciate that folks like to connect with me on a personal level, this can happen in other spaces. It is quite sad because FB Pages used to be a great way to separate professional from personal content. Now, the inefficacy of reach and how the algorithms suppress and restrict the content have made FB Pages an unproductive use of resources.

So what is next? I think this is a gradual process of social media culling and pruning. At some point, I would love to leave Facebook and the rest of the Meta altogether, but since I still enjoy connecting with folks on a personal level there and no other space connects us in that way, I’ll stay with Instagram, Threads, BlueSky, my Facebook profile, and occasionally LinkedIn for now.

But why not try with the Bookface, other people seem to make it work?

Sure, if I had a social media team made up of more than me, myself, and two technologically inefficient dogs, I might be able to work on getting my FB Page interactions up, but alas, I do not and have little motivation to do so. The more significant shift will be directing my energy and effort towards algorithm-free zones and direct connections, namely this substack and my email/text list, so come the end of August, I’ll be more focused on those two spaces.

Social connections are an ever-changing landscape, so I would love to hear how other folks (freelancers or otherwise) are navigating and adapting to these spaces.