I'm personally sooooo sick of how all of these companies feel like they are legally entitled to advertise to me and that adblocking is a punishable crime. They believe they're entitled to my eyes and ears at all times.
I'm 49. I miss chat rooms and message boards! I only use Facebook and UA-cam. I do notice a shift. I think people are longing for authenticity and are tired of cookie-cutter personalities where everyone is following the same formula.
To me, UA-cam will always be the last bastion of ‘content creation,’ because it is always possible (and enjoyable) when you strip things back to basics. You can make short films or very shiny, aspirational vlogs, or elaborate video essays…. But failing everything, you can just sit down and talk to your camera. And personally, I love it. These rambly videos you’ve been posting lately? This is content I love, and that I can only find on UA-cam. (When I can find it, that is… I have some qualms with the YT algorithm right now, but that’s besides the point lol)
The timing of this video feels very poignant actually. I've recently deleted all the social media apps off my phone and only use UA-cam on my laptop (on a browser without ads). I got sick of the algorithm pushing everything into my feed on all apps, especially the rage-bait. I just wanted to interact with people I'd followed and things I selectively looked at on each app. Also the ads are getting beyond ridiculous, to the point where it feels a little like an invasion of my time and privacy. I'm here to connect and to be entertained, not see an ad with a bad robot voice over it every third post. Thank you for making this! I'm glad someone is talking about it
People seem to be ravenous for in person connections since 2020 -2022. The FEW times i have stepped out of my comfort zone and interacted at a book signing or something like that, i had much better results then I thought I would. I think your channel is like the second best to that in person interaction people because it feels MUCH more real.
@@celisewillis that is true for authors who have those things but not all do. Hence ads. Like I said, I skip, fast forward them but people need money to survive. It's annoying but not hurtful and I understand it.
I figure my first priority for my channel is just to get it financially stable so it can continue, I'm sure a lot of creators feel the same because the time it takes to maintain a channel is hard to keep up over a long period if you don't either promote expensive personal products like courses, or take some sponsorships...or are independently wealthy! But I definitely don't want a world where the only consistent creators are independently wealthy!
I think that people yearn for genuine connection. Your channel feels genuine to me, and I enjoy it, as well as a few others. I'm not willing to spend much time online, though. What I love even more are the actual, in-person groups I am part of. For example, every other Saturday, I have lunch at a local pub with a bunch of other people in my area who love fountain pens.
I’ve been loving the Cara app. Cara is built for and by artists, with safeguards to block AI, bots, and data scraping. The community vibe is like early Tumblr and Flickr. It’s SO refreshing to explore bc it runs on real human interactions, useful hashtags, and choosing who you follow. The platform is young but growing. It reminds me of online community forums from before everything got engulfed by algorithms and ad money. (Also thanks for this video and for advancing this conversation. happy to have found your channel!)
We're in a new cycle of people before products. Marketing fatigue is real and we're shifting back to what works. Bluesky is a great place to do social media since it's still small with no ads. I feel we're getting back to an early internet in spots. So it's going to be hard to do marketing until we figure out more of what people want versus the past 24 months. :D
I cut back my FB and IG usage dramatically. The reduction happened naturally b/c I felt so overwhelmed with suggested content, especially video shorts, that I lost my desire to look at any of it. I used to enjoy seeing new things but once you engage with something, the algorithm thinks that one thing you engaged with is all that you want to see. I dropped what was Twitter in 2016 and never looked back and have not and never will install TikTok. When I am on FB or IG, I just feel like I'm walking through a big crowded city with billboards and vendors all up in my face trying to sell me stuff.
I know exactly what you are describing. I miss the old days as well and I think the general level of creativity was so much higher back then. I have also been feeling this unbearable sense that whenever I am online I am in this kind of surveillance state, especially now with the AI stuff. As an artist, Meta uses my artwork (as well as everyone's personal photos) to feed it's AI models. I think all of social media is doing this, plus anything posted on a personal website is fair game too. I almost feel like I want to keep my work private, but everyone wants to share their art, right? It is very disconcerting.
Cara is an art platform that prohibits genAI artwork! Lots of artists there. Glaze and Artshield can also poison your images against genAI image scrapers -- these image generators will eventually become useless.
@@LilyGazou don't let the camera dissuade your creative soul! nothing, no one, can replace an artist because every single instance of an artist is unique! only you can give what you have, not even a robot trained from you personally!
On LiveJournal we could curate our experience and it was really hard for something to "break containment" and reach the haters. Also the algorithm doesn't care if you're reacting because you love something or because you hate it. If anything, anger is a bigger motivator to react. So you end up with people who really hate something and when they see it online they yell about it and the algorithm says "hey, they really reacted to that post, I should send more of THAT" so they feel like they're being bombarded with That Thing They Hate and so they yell about it more which just reinforces the algorithm. I am really dreading trying to market my books.
You're so right, it's an awful cycle. The trick to avoiding drama, I've found, is to build a gentle audience. Back in 2015 UA-cam, every comment section was filled with nastiness. YT asked the channel, Philosophytube how her comment sections were so kind. And it's because she created videos that asked you to think about why you feel/think certain ways, which curates an audience of thoughtful, compassionate people. ALSO, Philosophytube is one of the best channels on UA-cam, deffo check it out!
Yes, and like, you really have to watch it with your feed. When I first got really into UA-cam, I watched ONE video that was like, a hate review of a book (that I also hated)...I wanted that catharsis of "oh, someone else hates this too" but then my whole feed became hate videos for books and then I realized, nope. Never again. I try to only watch positive, or at least neutral, videos, because I don't want to encourage the angry/bitchy content and also there are real people behind all these books and other things that are getting hated on, so I don't like that the algo encourages creators to trash things for views.
You are a breath of fresh air. Hope you are getting some rest. I did deactivate Facebook @ year ago. Too much nonsense. Never did the Twitter Twitter, instagram, TikTok nonsense! I like You tube for music, my knitting, crocheting, books to read ideas, weather, international news ( non glossy stations). The ads still get me crazy on UA-cam. I despise the gossipy people who have nothing better to do than well, gossip. I have too many other things to fill my mind and time!
I published my first book this year and trying to market it is harder than writing it. I wish there was a magic wand that would make all the social media and marketing work for new writers. But looking for those answers is how I found your channel. 😀
I am also a millennial and this video speaks to me so much. I mourn the loss of community and cozy niche spaces on the internet. I am just starting out a new business and I have no choice but to turn to social media and it is full of noise, and junk, and AI, and drama, and algorithm chasing. Social media actively punishing and hiding content if links or certain benign words are mentioned or not making specific content is absolutely wild to me. It has been an uphill battle to find other small creators because every social media refuses to show me anything that is not trending even if it has nothing to do with my interested and the list goes on and on. I don't want trendy videos, I want to find my people, I want communities and it is so hard to do that outside of joining Discord groups. I am glad, I'm not crazy here.
Gah. I hate how much the algorithms curate our existence (or more specifically, our exposure to other people's existences, which can really way heavy on our mindsets). I miss the early days of the internet too, and all the potential it had. I still remember subscribing to blogs on Feedburner in the 90s and being so amazed at how people were putting themselves out there with all their weird random passions and ideas. For free. Without ads or algos. It was the wild west but it was also so much more authentic. Social media didn't even really exist yet. "Personal brand" wasn't even a thing. Influencers didn't exist (not in the way we understand the term today). I really miss those days. Anyway, I totally relate to what you're saying about just trying to connect with people and be real, microcommunities, authenticity, and not focusing so much on "marketing" and social media and all the associated BS. As far as decent social platforms, I am really enjoying Substack, especially for longer and more thoughtful content, but it's not super strong on making connections IMO.
I subscribe to your channel, and many other UA-cam channels, because of the personal content. I want to hear about your personal interests, and those are always a bit erratic. It's what makes up an interesting personality. The problem, as you say, is that the UA-cam algorithm gets confused, and that makes it hard to build a successful monetary channel. I gave up on that years ago and I only focus on making the best content I can based on what I'm interested in because I know other people will be interested in that too. In my case, my reward for running my channel is the many, MANY new friendships I've made, some of them resulting in wonderful collaborations. It seems that UA-cam channel-making is becoming a cottage industry, which is wonderful. I've noticed that for many people suffering from stress and depression, posting videos about what's important to them, and finding that it's also important to many others, is a balm for the troubled mind. That is a precious thing in itself.
Those are the types of videos I like best too. I might follow them for a bookstore crawl or a thrifting video or whatever but then if they want to talk about other stuff, I like that too, even if I don't knit or garden (very well) etc. It just feels so human.
I loooooooved the simplicity of AOL chat rooms. I’ve stepped away from social media and have only stuck to UA-cam.. but I don’t consider it social media. I’ll leave a comment here and there but I don’t have any expectations that the video creator or anyone will respond to it. Great video and I’m glad to see you getting back to a normal routine after the storm ❤
I only found you because of watching flood videos but I'm never leaving. You are correct the tech folks are messing with us I hope you can benefit no matter what.
Same age as you, and I miss the old internet so much. You made me remember that I met a close friend on the mothering magazine boards in 2012. Also, once I find someone interesting, I’m open to learning anything about their lives (that they feel comfortable sharing), and I’m sad to hear that the algorithm discourages this. I know my daughters (who love your notebook posts so much) would definitely want to hear your take on video games.
Twitch is the closest thing I can find to early AOL chatrooms. The community aspect has a similar feeling. Except there is a visual/audio element and ads do exist. But there are some smaller streamers who keep it super chill and feels so cozy
I've felt like this for a long time. I don't like getting sales emails, so I won't use an email list to sell my books. The thing is, readers often don't spend a lot of time on social media. I think maybe readers are reading rather than scrolling, because it takes a longer attention span to get into a book than to scroll on social media, so I'm not going to be running anymore ads on social media.
I find all the new books i want to read via word of mouth (booktubers and friends), the author being physically in front of me at a convention, OR hyper specific tiktok reccomendations. Like it has to be an excerpt from the book that hits a specific niche, or a booktokker with a list of highly specific niche recs and i'll save it to buy later. Tiktok has brought me to a loooong list of some of my favorite books, and also some of my favorite creators. ALL social media seems to be trying to capture the lightning in a bottle that youtube has with monetizable MEDIA more than the social, and even youtube has literally deplorable problems for small creators that no one can seem solve. It feels like we're coming to a breaking point soon, content creators seem desperately close to unionizing to deal with false copyright claims and more people are unplugging from ads entirely. I'll be interested to see what happens in the coming years as I try to break into self publishing.
My husband, who has been involved in online sports communities (specifically cricket) has noticed the same patterns as us creatives: it seems like there are much less people on a lot of social media platforms, and we are constantly bombarded with ads. I also yearn for niche message boards to make a comeback 😭❤️
Great observations! I'm experiencing what you're describing: most social media platforms are so disorganized, crammed full of ads (sometimes offensive), and don't focus on my friends or subscriptions; they've become unsocial places. Instagram was once my favorite, but I can't stand it anymore...partly for the reasons above, and partly because I couldn't resolve an account issue as they don't let you speak to a human. UA-cam is my go-to now, but like you said, it's not really a social platform. Extreme automation is diminishing any social aspect across the platforms.
I used to love Instagram as well. But now they keep showing recommended posts between people I actually follow; the trouble is that I do like the recommended posts, but I don’t want to spend hours scrolling Instagram. They also changed the hashtag feature so you can’t sort by new posts. Which was really good for getting your stuff out there and seen by other people but now it’s just another algorithm.
I feel like everywhere is fading, for me. With the new announcement on Twitter the other day, I'm reverting back to tumblr. Most of my time is spent on UA-cam. It's kind of a create & dash thing, but I do have some friends over on FB that I met on YT years and years ago. So you can bridge those gaps, but I feel like nothing is hitting just right.
Blue Sky is a fantastic twitter alternative! No algorithm, and you can find communities who like the same things pretty easy. I'm in a lot of plant and aquarium circles ✨
Lidiya, when you said "dystopian cash grab" I needed to laugh because this is so true and sad, then the next second you suddenly had the same laugh. This moment felt more than a real connection than anything ever on insta or tiktok 😂
Facebook has been showing far more ads than posts by friends or even family members. I have no experience with Instagram, but am not surprised to hear this. Hang in and stay sane. 🤗
They hide it, but if you're using FB on desktop, check the left-hand sidebar and click on "Feeds" - you should be able to access a feed that is an actual "timeline" - only the people you follow, in chronological order (will probably still have some ads, but no suggested posts or nonsense timeline) On Instagram, I only know how to find it on the app, but if you click on the "Instagram" logo at the top right; there should be a drop-down that says "following" and "favorites" - clicking on Following will get rid of all the randomized chronology and the suggested posts (won't get rid of the ads but still way better than the default feed which shows me hardly anyone I know and will show me posts from a month ago as if they are recent)
I feel this to some extent. I don't like to post on social media anymore, like I did when I was younger. I also have been putting in blocks and limits to a lot of it, including UA-cam. But since I will need to promote my book (whether I publish traditionally or indie) I'll have to start posting more, and it's overwhelming because I don't want to. I do appreciate your youtube channel and the authenticity you bring. It's an inspiration to the kind of content I would want to make.
In my recent experience, mostly for niche content and discussion it happens on Discord. Once you find a good discord or two for the content you're looking for, thats generally where the active contributors and experts are hanging out anyway. It feels a lot more like the early days of IRC or something.
So funny coz I just deleted all my socials from my phone a week ago (just the apps not my accts) I wish it meant I was in my phone less but I use it read lol but I’m reading more so there’s that.
Oh, how I love the days of News Groups and Message Boards. What you're noticing now I kind of suspected was going to happen. Except for UA-cam I never joined any of them, I guess I'm sort of limiting my links in the commodities exchange market. Then again I'm not 20 or 30 something either. Really enjoy your videos, you're a genuine made from scratch without artificial flavoring and additives earth girl.
I think your observation that people seem 'scattered' is how I've been feeling. I think there's a move towards what I'd call 'fragmenting' - a shift towards authenticity, perhaps as a reaction to the type of influencer-dominated content of the previous slice of our social history, has led to people wanting to gather into much smaller groups, around someone they think is genuinely more like themselves, who is just talking to them about one thing they're interested in. I think it's led to the rise of Patreon and Kickstarter and things like that, as opposed to the much more wide-spread gathering of 'news from everyone I know' that made Facebook popular. We were very excited to see everything the world had to offer on one site for a while, and now we're tired of the noise, and want to go into a smaller room with people who are all talking about the same thing, and shut the door. That's just my take as a user, though. I don't have any experience with trying to advertise on social media or anything like that.
🙌🏽 I’ve abandoned all hope aside from UA-cam and Substack. It’s been lonely since I left the socials but I had to go to the local record store to ask about music events in the neighborhood- which forced me into a real world interaction. I think people aren’t used to it, but analog life seems like the way out of the transactional punishment/reward game we got wrapped up in. And I’m trying not to expect it to be like it was. It’s something else.
@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor I actually just ordered post cards to try to promote my Sustack and UA-cam work. I’m gonna try just flyering the old school way for marketing…and see how it goes.
Yes, I do wish forums would come back. I do wish slow internet would come back. I miss my LiveJounal days, when I could read what is happening with my friends and write fun posts. I deleted social networks cause they have more ads now than anything else. I cannot see posts from my friends anymore, it is only ad on ad. Basically we are buying expensive machines we don't like (I had to update my phone, and I hate how everything looks the same now, I miss my cool looking Nokia from 2009!) to go on social networks that lured us in by promises of 'staying in touch with your friends', but now they are feeding us ads and trash. It does not matter how well I clean and re-arrange my subscriptions. UA-cam used to be fun till 10 years ago, when everyone decided to make videos by yelling at you. And people decided to copy each other, since they see a 'success' formula and do not want to try anything else. They are in it for the MONEYYY and VIEWSSS. I feel so annoyed by everyone-looking-doing-the same, you are a breath of fresh air!! Thank you.
My UA-cam feed is pretty good, I follow a lot of vlogs that just feel cozy and honest and I try to never click on videos that are complaining about anything, even if I'm interested, because the algo will jump on that. It's not a good way to meet people though...but a number of my favorite vloggers DO have a Discord and that does seem to be the best way currently.
There is a diaspora as the biggest platforms are declining - and they are - but there is less consensus about where to go. IMO this is a good thing, because having many smaller topic- based networks is better. That said, Bluesky is growing now, and certain Mastodon servers are great for writers and readers.
I think what you're talking about is a move to discord servers. The only community i wanted to join was for a indie videogame, (fear and hunger 2 termina) and that was the place to be for everything to do with it, and all the fellow interested people basically HAD to go there to talk about it and share memes and make fan art and like wow it did become THE place to be. People were passionate and creative and fun and it was just awesome. Part of why the community is there is because the game is deep horror, and cant be promoted in most places, which is again, a throw back to the old wild west internet where freedom and chaos reigned. yes there are still rules and issues, and i absolutely agree that there need to be, some things just shouldnt be done, but damn was it refreshing to be there when it was still smaller before it got too big for me to keep track of all the chats
AOL- I use to host a writers paranormal chat on AOL every Wednesday evening. Thanks for the fun ‘memory.’ I’m at the point where I’ve started a YT channel and Patreon or Substack. No longer interested in FB, IG or TT. Wish I understood Discord and how to find chats and join them. Things are changing, I’m not clear on the direction though.
I have thought about breaking out multiple channels because I have diverse subject matter and just do micro-plugs referring viewers to my other channels. I have done antique shop reviews, seasonal nature videos, cat videos, and a bunch of diy videos. I started going back to school two years ago while still working full time and have posted very little since which has given me time to kind of contemplate while my channel is on the back burners. I will probably do a search on youtube for how others have developed this. I will say I have really appreciated your videos about the Hurricane Helene aftermath. If you decided to do a secondary channel that might be the most helpful. The feeds about the aftermath are harder to find on youtube and I know things will not be set to right for years.
im only active on tumblr nowadays 🤷🏻♀️ i use instagram to message my friends or post occasional life updates on "close friends" story. but i don't consume instagram content or keep up with influencers in a way i used to. tumblr is the one social media that still feels like social media to me. everyone is anonymous, you can't see anyone's follower count, everyone has their little niche interests, you can make online friends, etc. all other social media platforms are either for keeping up with the people you already know irl or following celebrities. and i feel like tumblr is the only one that's in the middle, a true online space like what forums used to be.
I never liked any of the social platforms, not even the chatrooms in the advent of the internet. The ones I knew was full of horrible privileged people. And I never got used to the subsequent social contraptions like Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, I always felt they were replacing human connection with gamified bullshit. UA-cam was always a different beast to me, where else can one see truly counter-cultural people who are talking freely for hours? Not even in real life, everyone is too busy to stay afloat. It's another mechanical wonder like the one that allowed Louis the vampire to see the sunrise.
Message boards were the golden age of the internet for me. I'm still in contact with most of the friends I made on those just nerding out about things I love. I haven't been able to get into threads but I do spend a lot of time on UA-cam these days because it has more in depth content. Social media marketing is my least favorite part of writing so I would love it if that kind of fizzled out and there was a new way to let people know that we wrote all these awesome books.
Facebook used to be terrible because everyone's drunk uncle was on there, saying All The Things Most Likely to Send Me into A Rage. 😆 Now it's terrible because I can't even find my friends' drunk uncles' comments, because I don't see my friends' posts anymore! Just a bunch of ads and "recommended" posts. I'm not sure which is worse. In this age of curated, filtered IG posts and AI fakeness, people are starving for realness and authenticity. One YT creator I follow in the work-from-home/small business niche has made authenticity her brand, and it's served her well. She shows up with messy hair and no makeup. Her office in the background is messy, etc. And she makes a point of saying "I thought about tidying up first, but I want to show the real truth of what it's like to work from home." This lady's paid Substack is growing steadily. She says it's nice to make content for the paid Substack because she doesn't have to worry about upsetting the algorithm. Also, since it is a smaller, paid audience, there are no trolls. Everyone is on board with how she's showing up. I personally love her content because it makes me feel like it's okay to be a real person who isn't perfect. As far as platforms, Substack feels vibrant and growing. I think the magic of Substack is, when you subscribe to someone, you actually see their posts. No one is lost to the algorithm. UA-cam feels like a good place to be discovered and grow. It's not as social, but it's often a gateway to a discord or Substack where you can socialize. Regarding your guilt over paid access---you stop that right now! I forbid you from feeling any guilt whatsoever. 😂 I think there is movement toward the paid access to a smaller communities, and I don't hate it. Sure Facebook is "free" but we pay for it in other ways---selling our eyeballs and attention to all the ads and sponsored posts. It's exhausting. Tristan Harris, a former Google employee, said, "If you're not paying for the product, then you ARE the product." I get it. If I were in your position, I'd probably fret over the people who can't afford to pay. It sucks that we live in a world where wealth is hoarded to the point where some people can't afford $5/mo or whatever, but try to remember that's not your fault. You didn't invent capitalism. And remember what you're offering people: a place to hang out with like-minded folks, make connections, and escape the ads, algorithms AND drunk uncle comments. Basically, digital paradise. Sorry this comment is so long . . . I need to be stopped. 😂😅
I want to know who this is! I've been thinking more about that too...less makeup and tidying up...not that I do a LOT of that to begin with, but IRL I never wear makeup and I am a mess and I don't think much about it. It's a little more embarrassing when you know everyone is just staring at you on their screen though. Maybe she will empower me to give up the last shreds of facade! Also, thank you for this whole comment, it was really heartening.
@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor The channel is Sparrow's End Business Diaries. To be fair, she does sometimes put on makeup and tidy her hair. But not always. It's just an overall "brand" of authenticity, and I love it. Lidiya, I think you're doing everything right. It's totally fine to tidy up a bit or tuck in your loose bits of hair and whatnot when you're about to film yourself. No one would begrudge you that, it's only natural. It doesn't make you inauthentic. There are many ways to show up as your authentic self, and I think you are doing it already. In your videos, you come across as a very real person who has made mistakes and had self-doubt at times. You make others feel that it's okay if we've made mistakes, too. While you might have made yourself presentable before turning on the camera (and really, who could blame you!), you don't look like you've spent 3 hours doing your makeup and filmed yourself on a "set" with a beauty filter cranked up to eleventy-five. Of course, there's nothing wrong with spending 3 hours on makeup or using beauty filters, if that's what someone wants to do. But my point is, I think you are already nailing the authenticity thing, and looking at the comments on your videos, I can see that others feel the same. Your videos are well done and engaging, but at the same time, feel like a casual chat with a friend---not a lecture from a distant personality. 😘
I really feel you are not a 'brand' - the notebook tours. creative life, writing, cats - I enjoy it all. So, on a basic level, not logo/tagged. it's cozy, honest, and it speaks to lots of different aspects of life.
I started noticing the shift at the beginning of the year. Not that I was advertising, but I definitely got more engagement on posts. FB likes to show me memories, and I noticed posts from years ago with more likes and comments than newer posts. The same was true when I started comparing IG posts. I used to get comments all the time on various posts and now I get... Next to nothing... I miss chat rooms too, and I love that Discord is trying to be that in a way. However, that said, I'm now in several writer discord servers and they're all the same thing with most of the same people, and so the same content is being posted across several discords for those handful of people who aren't all on the same server. So I'm seeing the same content multiple times across servers. Add in the fact that I'm closer to the west coast, in a different time zone ANNND I work night shift, and I'm coming to conversations after everyone else has said their piece and moved on, making me feel so behind on conversations I'd love to be a part of. It can be very disheartening.
I'm not in the phase of creativity where I'm wrestling with algorithms for visibility... but I 100% get the vibe you're touching on where the internet somehow feels less connected than it used to feel (yes surely due to mass monetization & consolidation). It's like the more people are in a section of the internet, the more I just feel like a tiny pointless blip in an ocean of voices. I don't bother engaging in 99% of videos/reels/whatevers I'm spoon fed by the socials because I don’t see a point. I'm not going to make an internet friend. At this point I think the only way to really make internet friends the good 'ol way is to find like... niche af discord servers with like less than 100 people. And even then, it's so hard to find those things when you weren’t there when it organically started. The internet used to be where I found social connection in my generally introverted life, and now... idk I'm just as socially isolated here as I am irl as a 30-something year old who doesn’t live in their home town. I yearn to find a tight-knit chill online community again to have some internet buddies. It's tough out there, and all the current socials have outlived their welcome. Remember in early internet when website rose and fell within months like fads? They'd be abandoned as fast as new tech released -- which is light speed, but somehow the commercialization & monopolization has just kept these crappy social sites alive for years n years.
Also the paid discords from creators... yes I get it's necessary to keep the population low and cozy when creators have big followings. And yes it also feels like transactionally paying someone to be your friend which is also just weird all around 😅 idk I'm in at least one of these sub based discords and I feel too embarrassed to actually talk to the creator themselves and just engage with their other followers on occasion. Maybe that's just me. I don't have an answer for improvement to that process. That's just been my tiny experience.
I like when I actually meet the people I’m mutually subscribed with. Then we are able to keep up with each other as we post. I don’t use any of the other platforms.
i feel like social media got too dystopian and now my world grows more from intimate connections than institutions. sometimes it’s a deep connection with irl people and sometimes online but in the end the only temptation post 2000-2020 internet comes from perceived authenticity. perhaps perceived authenticity is the only thing people find interesting…art, stories, religion etc.
I would like to show up for a livestream of a fire pit, where people could take turns showing up to chat. About books or horses or art. Whatever. We would all be drinking tea😂.
Yay! Capitalist hellholes! What a fascinating topic. It's interesting that we seem to be feeling the same way. You'd think that when AI and marketing templates annoy and/or infuriate so many people, that platforms would try something different. Art in all its forms is suffering, it seems, which really lends an extra dark stroke to the feelings that the entire world is falling apart. You don't know how important art is until you don't see it around anymore.
I love dystopian cash grab comment. It totally feels like this. I recently went on a retreat and used my phone less. I felt more myself without this constant buzzing of telling me what is new, what I should buy and the repeats of information. I started to think --- being plugged in all the time really takes away your time. Time is more precious than we think.
My anxiety and mental health was in the toilet so recently, like a month or 2 ago, I deleted my social media (twitter, instagram and tiktok specifically) accounts and I feel so much better. I'm 35 and started with Myspace as a teenager. I have Facebook only because that's the only way to get a hold of some people otherwise I wouldn't have that anymore either. I'm on here and sporadically on Tumblr and Reddit. I've been working on less internet time and focusing on my health and feeling so much better. Unfortunately I don't know how i'm going to market when I finish my book but I know it's not worth my sanity and health so i'll figure it out somehow. When I deleted my Instagram I also noticed my feed was almost nothing but cat videos and not the people I followed. And I like youtube because I prefer the long form personal content compared to the short quick impersonal stuff.
I am in the exact same boat! Let us know what you end up doing once you start marketing your book! I'm intrigued by other options besides social media.
Same here! Though it was when Reddit changed their API to shut down third party apps (that were made because Reddit's app is garbage). They made that decision for me! P much only use UA-cam and discord now.
A publisher said that I should be advertising on Facebook, Instagram, etc. I just said NO. I will do a UA-cam video and you can upload that video to whatever other social media you want, but I will have nothing to do with these awful platforms. UA-cam is bad enough, with its constant promotion of Jordan Peterson and the like. I should say, however, that I am 76, have NEVER owned a television set, and use a clamshell phone that I don't even carry around with me. I'm not a technophobe, but consider half the population totally nuts with their willingness to be absorbed into the "Borg."
It's super weird, and actually full of weird ads all over Facebook, Instagram, Twitter... I only follow certain youtubers (such as yourself) and browse some reddit (writing and publishing related), where ads are less invasive. Otherwise I catch up on Whatsapp w/ my friends. I'm an author too, promoting on social media has become mostly pointless. When I enjoy a writer I just check from now and then if they have some new work up.
I am myself. I am a multitude of things. I only learnt how to be this recently. I also have a day-job that affords me the freedom I need to be creative in my own way. The game isn't for me. I think people are burnt out from playing it. I make some extra $ from my creativity but that's a bonus. I need the art to survive, that's what gets me up each morning, not the $
It used to be a way to express yourself and interact and connect with people in the way you chose. Now it's gone completely corporate. They want to control who, when and how everyone is communicating. And if you are not furthering all the crap they're trying to put out there you will find yourself with less and less connections.
I am with you. I started working on the net when there were about 5000 email addresses. In the world. Think of it like a big city -- the bigger it gets the more people become isolated from the crowds. And when people annoy each other in a small town, there's some cost to offending people. In a big city, a lot of people feel like whistling at a stranger in a short skirt is just fine, or being rude to some mother with a squirmy kid on the bus is just a normal day. The internet is pretty much the same. Transactional and rude. Also -- not micro-communities. Silos. People use the net to isolate themselves from wider society. But yes, I miss LJ. Sigh.
I think to be successful with SM marketing people have to approach the "pitch" with authenticity and personalization. Standing out as a brand is truly about customer service. I think SM is going the route of live content. Have you ever seen some of these live chats thrive?! It's crazy. I get it, SM is saturated. Marketing yourself and knowing your target audience is probably the only way to compete with the algorithm.
Is there any point in me saying that I like your content? I like when you have random topics. I like your nerdy bookshelf-self. I enjoyed your Montgomery video and felt your shock and distress after Helene. I don’t like UA-cam deciding for me. I’m not a creator but the platform is now completely commercialized. I like Substack also. 🐇
Late comment, but I feel like bluesky is pretty lively right now, though I haven't tried it for marketing. I'm spending most of my social media time on communities over on discord, though.
I think the internet used to be a place to meet people. Now it feels more like a place to interact with people you already know. I'd say that 95% of my online experience these days is discord based because it's one of the last places where I can actually meet and get to know real people. Tumblr is probably the most "authentic" social media that's still around, but probably not great for advertising.
With Threads being just another Meta product, I haven't been able to bring myself to go there, yet. I see post snippets on Instagram or Facebook. I was a big Twitter user right up until Musk ownership. My personal favorite space is Mastodon. I'm on Bluesky, but most posts I see are political, so I'm not comfortable posting about my writing in the middle of that. Discovery, these days, is a huge challenge. A decade ago, the writing community felt way more lively. These days, the books that make a splash seem to fit a narrow mold. I'm still hoping to make a living from my writing so I can afford to put more time into it, but that dream feels more challenging than it used to. I don't know the answers. But it sounds like people are over cookie cutter marketing plans, so I guess we all just have to figure out what works for us? 🤷♀️ Whatever the answer is, no doubt it'll be superseded soon after. It's exhausting. Keep writing & wait & see, I guess.
Facebook is definitely going the way of the dinosaur, but TikTok is still fresh. I mean, it's a window to the world. I get lives from cyberpunk cities and war zones and backyards in Ghana. It's incredible, and I feel more connected to people than I ever have.
tbf didnt people pay community leaders for their hosting of community because people would quite literally have to pay for server space to keep a website running? it's almost like a tax for community benefit, makes lots of sense! discords are free, but makes sense to paywall it with your patreon as a package deal simply because they can get hectic with too many people via a low barrier for entry lol
But I am trying to figure out where do people go now, what if I want to find real people who interested in same hobbies? Reddit is all anonymous. I hate fb and ig. Where otherwise can I find a community to be involved with? I have no answer ;(
The Internet has been going downhill since the time when commercial activities were prohibited on it (mid80s) and the endless September of AOL had not yet happened. It was more fun and the quality of discourse was better when it was just a private playground for crunchheads and our mode of communication was the essay. Kinda kidding, kinda not. I never really made the leap to social media. I don't know anywhere online these days where people communicate by sharing essays on an even footing.
Yeah, also it's becoming more like TikTok, lot of social media sites implemented short vertical videos that are designed to keep people "doomscrolling", and the discusión section is very hard to use, I disactivated most of my social media some months ago.
17:55 I would as well These social media sites (Including ytube) are awful with this stuff. Most FB platforms don't allow you to see the latest posts from the people you follow which is what I want to see, not to mention how instagram is about nothing but novelty and circus now. On youtube god forbid I accidentally click on a joe rogan clip I'm tangentally interested in or any of the other algorithm holes my recommended feed will be FILLED with those clips. I wanted to refresh my knowledge on the reilly drawing method a couple months back, the video was great and informative but now ytube believes that I want to watch 800 more videos on that subject, yet when I want to use the algorithm to discover new things like music or what not they recommend the same 5 videos. I do enjoy youtube because of their push to show more smaller creators though which hearkens back to the earlier days where people were more authentic, more personal and less transactional than they are now because the smaller creators haven't streamlined everything,but as you said you NEED to be talking of only one subject or you will be thrown out of the algo.
Marketing is harder now. Getting seen is harder. I'm trying to be more creative and not sure about don't ADs again. Thinking about focusing on my strength of worldbuilding and making videos about it. Honestly, I rather be writing than marketing. It's so draining. At least traditional marketing, like tropes and whatnot.
I am getting very very very bored on UA-cam. It's getting close to become like daytime tv. Except a few niche creators related to my hobbies and interests like your channel. Otherwise I am really contemplating limiting my time on platforms because I am hardly discovering or learning anything new or useful.
Thank you for this video. I hope you and people near to you are doing well. I just feel that on one hand people think, because they have some anonymity, that they can say whatever they want and be as deranged and insulting as possible and on the other hand a lot of people censor themselves, because they are scared of saying something wrong and being judged. And on top of that, as a lot use social media to sell something, most might suspect an ad and don't show real interest. Of course I want to market myself and have people interested in my projects, but I'd also love for discussions and questions in the comment section, for me and others, that stumble over a post, to have. I'm not so confident, that things will change in the near future, because the job market and economy in most places is just really bad at the moment and people either need a second income or are trying to escape the job market all together by getting internet famous.
I agree! I think that it's not exactly "anonymity" that creates the toxicity; otherwise Facebook and Twitter (where most users are using their IRL name and try to maintain a "brand") would be the nicest place on the Internet haha. I actually find that modern Reddit (where most people are anonymous) are a bit kinder, especially in the more specific subreddits. I think it's because you can upvote/downvote. So a community has a say in whether a comment adds to the conversation.
I'm personally sooooo sick of how all of these companies feel like they are legally entitled to advertise to me and that adblocking is a punishable crime. They believe they're entitled to my eyes and ears at all times.
I'm 49. I miss chat rooms and message boards! I only use Facebook and UA-cam. I do notice a shift. I think people are longing for authenticity and are tired of cookie-cutter personalities where everyone is following the same formula.
To me, UA-cam will always be the last bastion of ‘content creation,’ because it is always possible (and enjoyable) when you strip things back to basics. You can make short films or very shiny, aspirational vlogs, or elaborate video essays…. But failing everything, you can just sit down and talk to your camera. And personally, I love it. These rambly videos you’ve been posting lately? This is content I love, and that I can only find on UA-cam.
(When I can find it, that is… I have some qualms with the YT algorithm right now, but that’s besides the point lol)
The timing of this video feels very poignant actually. I've recently deleted all the social media apps off my phone and only use UA-cam on my laptop (on a browser without ads). I got sick of the algorithm pushing everything into my feed on all apps, especially the rage-bait. I just wanted to interact with people I'd followed and things I selectively looked at on each app. Also the ads are getting beyond ridiculous, to the point where it feels a little like an invasion of my time and privacy. I'm here to connect and to be entertained, not see an ad with a bad robot voice over it every third post.
Thank you for making this! I'm glad someone is talking about it
🤖
People seem to be ravenous for in person connections since 2020 -2022. The FEW times i have stepped out of my comfort zone and interacted at a book signing or something like that, i had much better results then I thought I would. I think your channel is like the second best to that in person interaction people because it feels MUCH more real.
Yeah, the pandemic left a lot of us craving something more substantive, I think.
I agree, I really feel like we're all friends here. :)
I agree with your observations. I yearn for channels that don’t have sponsorships. I am so tired of the ads
I get that but they have to make money especially if their sales aren't good. I just skip (2x speed past the ads)
@@WynterRyotmany creators make most of their income from outside UA-cam, like from Patreon, Ko-fi, etc. Ads just don't pay as well, comparatively.
@@celisewillis that is true for authors who have those things but not all do. Hence ads. Like I said, I skip, fast forward them but people need money to survive. It's annoying but not hurtful and I understand it.
I figure my first priority for my channel is just to get it financially stable so it can continue, I'm sure a lot of creators feel the same because the time it takes to maintain a channel is hard to keep up over a long period if you don't either promote expensive personal products like courses, or take some sponsorships...or are independently wealthy! But I definitely don't want a world where the only consistent creators are independently wealthy!
I think that people yearn for genuine connection. Your channel feels genuine to me, and I enjoy it, as well as a few others. I'm not willing to spend much time online, though. What I love even more are the actual, in-person groups I am part of. For example, every other Saturday, I have lunch at a local pub with a bunch of other people in my area who love fountain pens.
I’ve been loving the Cara app. Cara is built for and by artists, with safeguards to block AI, bots, and data scraping. The community vibe is like early Tumblr and Flickr. It’s SO refreshing to explore bc it runs on real human interactions, useful hashtags, and choosing who you follow. The platform is young but growing. It reminds me of online community forums from before everything got engulfed by algorithms and ad money. (Also thanks for this video and for advancing this conversation. happy to have found your channel!)
We're in a new cycle of people before products. Marketing fatigue is real and we're shifting back to what works. Bluesky is a great place to do social media since it's still small with no ads. I feel we're getting back to an early internet in spots. So it's going to be hard to do marketing until we figure out more of what people want versus the past 24 months. :D
I cut back my FB and IG usage dramatically. The reduction happened naturally b/c I felt so overwhelmed with suggested content, especially video shorts, that I lost my desire to look at any of it. I used to enjoy seeing new things but once you engage with something, the algorithm thinks that one thing you engaged with is all that you want to see. I dropped what was Twitter in 2016 and never looked back and have not and never will install TikTok. When I am on FB or IG, I just feel like I'm walking through a big crowded city with billboards and vendors all up in my face trying to sell me stuff.
Yes, the videos are kind of the last straw for me too. It does indeed feel like you're in Times Square or something. Let me take a breath already!
@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor Times Square was exactly what I was picturing. It was either Times Square or that dystopian city in Blade Runner.
I know exactly what you are describing. I miss the old days as well and I think the general level of creativity was so much higher back then. I have also been feeling this unbearable sense that whenever I am online I am in this kind of surveillance state, especially now with the AI stuff. As an artist, Meta uses my artwork (as well as everyone's personal photos) to feed it's AI models. I think all of social media is doing this, plus anything posted on a personal website is fair game too. I almost feel like I want to keep my work private, but everyone wants to share their art, right? It is very disconcerting.
I started doing sculpture and weaving more. I don’t even keep my art website going anymore. Because AI is doing the painting now.
Cara is an art platform that prohibits genAI artwork! Lots of artists there. Glaze and Artshield can also poison your images against genAI image scrapers -- these image generators will eventually become useless.
@@LilyGazou don't let the camera dissuade your creative soul! nothing, no one, can replace an artist because every single instance of an artist is unique! only you can give what you have, not even a robot trained from you personally!
On LiveJournal we could curate our experience and it was really hard for something to "break containment" and reach the haters.
Also the algorithm doesn't care if you're reacting because you love something or because you hate it. If anything, anger is a bigger motivator to react. So you end up with people who really hate something and when they see it online they yell about it and the algorithm says "hey, they really reacted to that post, I should send more of THAT" so they feel like they're being bombarded with That Thing They Hate and so they yell about it more which just reinforces the algorithm.
I am really dreading trying to market my books.
You're so right, it's an awful cycle. The trick to avoiding drama, I've found, is to build a gentle audience.
Back in 2015 UA-cam, every comment section was filled with nastiness. YT asked the channel, Philosophytube how her comment sections were so kind. And it's because she created videos that asked you to think about why you feel/think certain ways, which curates an audience of thoughtful, compassionate people.
ALSO, Philosophytube is one of the best channels on UA-cam, deffo check it out!
Yes, and like, you really have to watch it with your feed. When I first got really into UA-cam, I watched ONE video that was like, a hate review of a book (that I also hated)...I wanted that catharsis of "oh, someone else hates this too" but then my whole feed became hate videos for books and then I realized, nope. Never again. I try to only watch positive, or at least neutral, videos, because I don't want to encourage the angry/bitchy content and also there are real people behind all these books and other things that are getting hated on, so I don't like that the algo encourages creators to trash things for views.
You are a breath of fresh air. Hope you are getting some rest.
I did deactivate Facebook @ year ago. Too much nonsense.
Never did the Twitter Twitter, instagram, TikTok nonsense!
I like You tube for music, my knitting, crocheting, books to read ideas, weather, international news ( non glossy stations).
The ads still get me crazy on UA-cam.
I despise the gossipy people who have nothing better to do than well, gossip.
I have too many other things to fill my mind and time!
I published my first book this year and trying to market it is harder than writing it. I wish there was a magic wand that would make all the social media and marketing work for new writers. But looking for those answers is how I found your channel. 😀
I am also a millennial and this video speaks to me so much. I mourn the loss of community and cozy niche spaces on the internet. I am just starting out a new business and I have no choice but to turn to social media and it is full of noise, and junk, and AI, and drama, and algorithm chasing. Social media actively punishing and hiding content if links or certain benign words are mentioned or not making specific content is absolutely wild to me. It has been an uphill battle to find other small creators because every social media refuses to show me anything that is not trending even if it has nothing to do with my interested and the list goes on and on. I don't want trendy videos, I want to find my people, I want communities and it is so hard to do that outside of joining Discord groups. I am glad, I'm not crazy here.
Gah. I hate how much the algorithms curate our existence (or more specifically, our exposure to other people's existences, which can really way heavy on our mindsets). I miss the early days of the internet too, and all the potential it had. I still remember subscribing to blogs on Feedburner in the 90s and being so amazed at how people were putting themselves out there with all their weird random passions and ideas. For free. Without ads or algos. It was the wild west but it was also so much more authentic. Social media didn't even really exist yet. "Personal brand" wasn't even a thing. Influencers didn't exist (not in the way we understand the term today). I really miss those days. Anyway, I totally relate to what you're saying about just trying to connect with people and be real, microcommunities, authenticity, and not focusing so much on "marketing" and social media and all the associated BS. As far as decent social platforms, I am really enjoying Substack, especially for longer and more thoughtful content, but it's not super strong on making connections IMO.
I subscribe to your channel, and many other UA-cam channels, because of the personal content. I want to hear about your personal interests, and those are always a bit erratic. It's what makes up an interesting personality. The problem, as you say, is that the UA-cam algorithm gets confused, and that makes it hard to build a successful monetary channel. I gave up on that years ago and I only focus on making the best content I can based on what I'm interested in because I know other people will be interested in that too. In my case, my reward for running my channel is the many, MANY new friendships I've made, some of them resulting in wonderful collaborations. It seems that UA-cam channel-making is becoming a cottage industry, which is wonderful. I've noticed that for many people suffering from stress and depression, posting videos about what's important to them, and finding that it's also important to many others, is a balm for the troubled mind. That is a precious thing in itself.
Those are the types of videos I like best too. I might follow them for a bookstore crawl or a thrifting video or whatever but then if they want to talk about other stuff, I like that too, even if I don't knit or garden (very well) etc. It just feels so human.
I loooooooved the simplicity of AOL chat rooms.
I’ve stepped away from social media and have only stuck to UA-cam.. but I don’t consider it social media. I’ll leave a comment here and there but I don’t have any expectations that the video creator or anyone will respond to it.
Great video and I’m glad to see you getting back to a normal routine after the storm ❤
I only found you because of watching flood videos but I'm never leaving. You are correct the tech folks are messing with us I hope you can benefit no matter what.
Same age as you, and I miss the old internet so much. You made me remember that I met a close friend on the mothering magazine boards in 2012. Also, once I find someone interesting, I’m open to learning anything about their lives (that they feel comfortable sharing), and I’m sad to hear that the algorithm discourages this. I know my daughters (who love your notebook posts so much) would definitely want to hear your take on video games.
Twitch is the closest thing I can find to early AOL chatrooms. The community aspect has a similar feeling. Except there is a visual/audio element and ads do exist. But there are some smaller streamers who keep it super chill and feels so cozy
I've felt like this for a long time. I don't like getting sales emails, so I won't use an email list to sell my books. The thing is, readers often don't spend a lot of time on social media. I think maybe readers are reading rather than scrolling, because it takes a longer attention span to get into a book than to scroll on social media, so I'm not going to be running anymore ads on social media.
I find all the new books i want to read via word of mouth (booktubers and friends), the author being physically in front of me at a convention, OR hyper specific tiktok reccomendations. Like it has to be an excerpt from the book that hits a specific niche, or a booktokker with a list of highly specific niche recs and i'll save it to buy later. Tiktok has brought me to a loooong list of some of my favorite books, and also some of my favorite creators.
ALL social media seems to be trying to capture the lightning in a bottle that youtube has with monetizable MEDIA more than the social, and even youtube has literally deplorable problems for small creators that no one can seem solve. It feels like we're coming to a breaking point soon, content creators seem desperately close to unionizing to deal with false copyright claims and more people are unplugging from ads entirely. I'll be interested to see what happens in the coming years as I try to break into self publishing.
My husband, who has been involved in online sports communities (specifically cricket) has noticed the same patterns as us creatives: it seems like there are much less people on a lot of social media platforms, and we are constantly bombarded with ads. I also yearn for niche message boards to make a comeback 😭❤️
"social media" has ALWAYS BEEN WEIRD.
Great observations! I'm experiencing what you're describing: most social media platforms are so disorganized, crammed full of ads (sometimes offensive), and don't focus on my friends or subscriptions; they've become unsocial places. Instagram was once my favorite, but I can't stand it anymore...partly for the reasons above, and partly because I couldn't resolve an account issue as they don't let you speak to a human. UA-cam is my go-to now, but like you said, it's not really a social platform. Extreme automation is diminishing any social aspect across the platforms.
I used to love Instagram as well. But now they keep showing recommended posts between people I actually follow; the trouble is that I do like the recommended posts, but I don’t want to spend hours scrolling Instagram.
They also changed the hashtag feature so you can’t sort by new posts. Which was really good for getting your stuff out there and seen by other people but now it’s just another algorithm.
Oh my gosh, yes, that was such an irritating change, I used to use a hashtag and then new posts all the time
I feel like everywhere is fading, for me. With the new announcement on Twitter the other day, I'm reverting back to tumblr. Most of my time is spent on UA-cam. It's kind of a create & dash thing, but I do have some friends over on FB that I met on YT years and years ago. So you can bridge those gaps, but I feel like nothing is hitting just right.
Blue Sky is a fantastic twitter alternative! No algorithm, and you can find communities who like the same things pretty easy. I'm in a lot of plant and aquarium circles ✨
I love how you’re helping the people of your town by asking for donations. That’s such an amazing thing to do.
Lidiya, when you said "dystopian cash grab" I needed to laugh because this is so true and sad, then the next second you suddenly had the same laugh. This moment felt more than a real connection than anything ever on insta or tiktok 😂
Facebook has been showing far more ads than posts by friends or even family members. I have no experience with Instagram, but am not surprised to hear this. Hang in and stay sane. 🤗
They hide it, but if you're using FB on desktop, check the left-hand sidebar and click on "Feeds" - you should be able to access a feed that is an actual "timeline" - only the people you follow, in chronological order (will probably still have some ads, but no suggested posts or nonsense timeline)
On Instagram, I only know how to find it on the app, but if you click on the "Instagram" logo at the top right; there should be a drop-down that says "following" and "favorites" - clicking on Following will get rid of all the randomized chronology and the suggested posts (won't get rid of the ads but still way better than the default feed which shows me hardly anyone I know and will show me posts from a month ago as if they are recent)
I always enjoy your videos, always learn something new.
I feel this to some extent. I don't like to post on social media anymore, like I did when I was younger. I also have been putting in blocks and limits to a lot of it, including UA-cam. But since I will need to promote my book (whether I publish traditionally or indie) I'll have to start posting more, and it's overwhelming because I don't want to. I do appreciate your youtube channel and the authenticity you bring. It's an inspiration to the kind of content I would want to make.
Just made a donation to Shady Side Florist. You're the best. I love your videos. :)
Thank you so much!!
In my recent experience, mostly for niche content and discussion it happens on Discord. Once you find a good discord or two for the content you're looking for, thats generally where the active contributors and experts are hanging out anyway. It feels a lot more like the early days of IRC or something.
So funny coz I just deleted all my socials from my phone a week ago (just the apps not my accts)
I wish it meant I was in my phone less but I use it read lol but I’m reading more so there’s that.
RIP livejournal. I was there too.
Oh, how I love the days of News Groups and Message Boards. What you're noticing now I kind of suspected was going to happen. Except for UA-cam I never joined any of them, I guess I'm sort of limiting my links in the commodities exchange market. Then again I'm not 20 or 30 something either. Really enjoy your videos, you're a genuine made from scratch without artificial flavoring and additives earth girl.
I think your observation that people seem 'scattered' is how I've been feeling. I think there's a move towards what I'd call 'fragmenting' - a shift towards authenticity, perhaps as a reaction to the type of influencer-dominated content of the previous slice of our social history, has led to people wanting to gather into much smaller groups, around someone they think is genuinely more like themselves, who is just talking to them about one thing they're interested in. I think it's led to the rise of Patreon and Kickstarter and things like that, as opposed to the much more wide-spread gathering of 'news from everyone I know' that made Facebook popular. We were very excited to see everything the world had to offer on one site for a while, and now we're tired of the noise, and want to go into a smaller room with people who are all talking about the same thing, and shut the door.
That's just my take as a user, though. I don't have any experience with trying to advertise on social media or anything like that.
🙌🏽 I’ve abandoned all hope aside from UA-cam and Substack. It’s been lonely since I left the socials but I had to go to the local record store to ask about music events in the neighborhood- which forced me into a real world interaction. I think people aren’t used to it, but analog life seems like the way out of the transactional punishment/reward game we got wrapped up in. And I’m trying not to expect it to be like it was. It’s something else.
I am definitely in favor of just going out and living an analog life as much as you can!
@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor I actually just ordered post cards to try to promote my Sustack and UA-cam work. I’m gonna try just flyering the old school way for marketing…and see how it goes.
Yes, I do wish forums would come back. I do wish slow internet would come back. I miss my LiveJounal days, when I could read what is happening with my friends and write fun posts. I deleted social networks cause they have more ads now than anything else. I cannot see posts from my friends anymore, it is only ad on ad. Basically we are buying expensive machines we don't like (I had to update my phone, and I hate how everything looks the same now, I miss my cool looking Nokia from 2009!) to go on social networks that lured us in by promises of 'staying in touch with your friends', but now they are feeding us ads and trash. It does not matter how well I clean and re-arrange my subscriptions. UA-cam used to be fun till 10 years ago, when everyone decided to make videos by yelling at you. And people decided to copy each other, since they see a 'success' formula and do not want to try anything else. They are in it for the MONEYYY and VIEWSSS. I feel so annoyed by everyone-looking-doing-the same, you are a breath of fresh air!! Thank you.
My UA-cam feed is pretty good, I follow a lot of vlogs that just feel cozy and honest and I try to never click on videos that are complaining about anything, even if I'm interested, because the algo will jump on that. It's not a good way to meet people though...but a number of my favorite vloggers DO have a Discord and that does seem to be the best way currently.
There is a diaspora as the biggest platforms are declining - and they are - but there is less consensus about where to go. IMO this is a good thing, because having many smaller topic- based networks is better. That said, Bluesky is growing now, and certain Mastodon servers are great for writers and readers.
I'm loving Blue Sky. It seems many of the drama alt-right weirdos are staying on Twitter. There's a culture of anti-cancelling, which I enjoy.
I think what you're talking about is a move to discord servers. The only community i wanted to join was for a indie videogame, (fear and hunger 2 termina) and that was the place to be for everything to do with it, and all the fellow interested people basically HAD to go there to talk about it and share memes and make fan art and like wow it did become THE place to be. People were passionate and creative and fun and it was just awesome.
Part of why the community is there is because the game is deep horror, and cant be promoted in most places, which is again, a throw back to the old wild west internet where freedom and chaos reigned.
yes there are still rules and issues, and i absolutely agree that there need to be, some things just shouldnt be done, but damn was it refreshing to be there when it was still smaller before it got too big for me to keep track of all the chats
AOL- I use to host a writers paranormal chat on AOL every Wednesday evening. Thanks for the fun ‘memory.’
I’m at the point where I’ve started a YT channel and Patreon or Substack. No longer interested in FB, IG or TT.
Wish I understood Discord and how to find chats and join them.
Things are changing, I’m not clear on the direction though.
discord didnt have a way to find servers within the app until pretty recently, but now there's a search function that's pretty useful! (:
I have thought about breaking out multiple channels because I have diverse subject matter and just do micro-plugs referring viewers to my other channels. I have done antique shop reviews, seasonal nature videos, cat videos, and a bunch of diy videos. I started going back to school two years ago while still working full time and have posted very little since which has given me time to kind of contemplate while my channel is on the back burners. I will probably do a search on youtube for how others have developed this.
I will say I have really appreciated your videos about the Hurricane Helene aftermath. If you decided to do a secondary channel that might be the most helpful. The feeds about the aftermath are harder to find on youtube and I know things will not be set to right for years.
im only active on tumblr nowadays 🤷🏻♀️
i use instagram to message my friends or post occasional life updates on "close friends" story. but i don't consume instagram content or keep up with influencers in a way i used to.
tumblr is the one social media that still feels like social media to me. everyone is anonymous, you can't see anyone's follower count, everyone has their little niche interests, you can make online friends, etc. all other social media platforms are either for keeping up with the people you already know irl or following celebrities. and i feel like tumblr is the only one that's in the middle, a true online space like what forums used to be.
I never liked any of the social platforms, not even the chatrooms in the advent of the internet. The ones I knew was full of horrible privileged people. And I never got used to the subsequent social contraptions like Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, I always felt they were replacing human connection with gamified bullshit.
UA-cam was always a different beast to me, where else can one see truly counter-cultural people who are talking freely for hours? Not even in real life, everyone is too busy to stay afloat. It's another mechanical wonder like the one that allowed Louis the vampire to see the sunrise.
Message boards were the golden age of the internet for me. I'm still in contact with most of the friends I made on those just nerding out about things I love. I haven't been able to get into threads but I do spend a lot of time on UA-cam these days because it has more in depth content. Social media marketing is my least favorite part of writing so I would love it if that kind of fizzled out and there was a new way to let people know that we wrote all these awesome books.
Facebook used to be terrible because everyone's drunk uncle was on there, saying All The Things Most Likely to Send Me into A Rage. 😆 Now it's terrible because I can't even find my friends' drunk uncles' comments, because I don't see my friends' posts anymore! Just a bunch of ads and "recommended" posts.
I'm not sure which is worse.
In this age of curated, filtered IG posts and AI fakeness, people are starving for realness and authenticity. One YT creator I follow in the work-from-home/small business niche has made authenticity her brand, and it's served her well. She shows up with messy hair and no makeup. Her office in the background is messy, etc. And she makes a point of saying "I thought about tidying up first, but I want to show the real truth of what it's like to work from home." This lady's paid Substack is growing steadily.
She says it's nice to make content for the paid Substack because she doesn't have to worry about upsetting the algorithm. Also, since it is a smaller, paid audience, there are no trolls. Everyone is on board with how she's showing up. I personally love her content because it makes me feel like it's okay to be a real person who isn't perfect.
As far as platforms, Substack feels vibrant and growing. I think the magic of Substack is, when you subscribe to someone, you actually see their posts. No one is lost to the algorithm.
UA-cam feels like a good place to be discovered and grow. It's not as social, but it's often a gateway to a discord or Substack where you can socialize.
Regarding your guilt over paid access---you stop that right now! I forbid you from feeling any guilt whatsoever. 😂 I think there is movement toward the paid access to a smaller communities, and I don't hate it. Sure Facebook is "free" but we pay for it in other ways---selling our eyeballs and attention to all the ads and sponsored posts. It's exhausting. Tristan Harris, a former Google employee, said, "If you're not paying for the product, then you ARE the product."
I get it. If I were in your position, I'd probably fret over the people who can't afford to pay. It sucks that we live in a world where wealth is hoarded to the point where some people can't afford $5/mo or whatever, but try to remember that's not your fault. You didn't invent capitalism. And remember what you're offering people: a place to hang out with like-minded folks, make connections, and escape the ads, algorithms AND drunk uncle comments. Basically, digital paradise.
Sorry this comment is so long . . . I need to be stopped. 😂😅
I loved every second of your comment! No need to apologize. Completely agree with your points.
I want to know who this is! I've been thinking more about that too...less makeup and tidying up...not that I do a LOT of that to begin with, but IRL I never wear makeup and I am a mess and I don't think much about it. It's a little more embarrassing when you know everyone is just staring at you on their screen though. Maybe she will empower me to give up the last shreds of facade!
Also, thank you for this whole comment, it was really heartening.
@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor The channel is Sparrow's End Business Diaries. To be fair, she does sometimes put on makeup and tidy her hair. But not always. It's just an overall "brand" of authenticity, and I love it.
Lidiya, I think you're doing everything right. It's totally fine to tidy up a bit or tuck in your loose bits of hair and whatnot when you're about to film yourself. No one would begrudge you that, it's only natural. It doesn't make you inauthentic. There are many ways to show up as your authentic self, and I think you are doing it already.
In your videos, you come across as a very real person who has made mistakes and had self-doubt at times. You make others feel that it's okay if we've made mistakes, too.
While you might have made yourself presentable before turning on the camera (and really, who could blame you!), you don't look like you've spent 3 hours doing your makeup and filmed yourself on a "set" with a beauty filter cranked up to eleventy-five.
Of course, there's nothing wrong with spending 3 hours on makeup or using beauty filters, if that's what someone wants to do. But my point is, I think you are already nailing the authenticity thing, and looking at the comments on your videos, I can see that others feel the same. Your videos are well done and engaging, but at the same time, feel like a casual chat with a friend---not a lecture from a distant personality. 😘
I really feel you are not a 'brand' - the notebook tours. creative life, writing, cats - I enjoy it all. So, on a basic level, not logo/tagged. it's cozy, honest, and it speaks to lots of different aspects of life.
I miss message boards so bad. I don’t know why they are all gone!? There seems to still be a demand.
I started noticing the shift at the beginning of the year. Not that I was advertising, but I definitely got more engagement on posts. FB likes to show me memories, and I noticed posts from years ago with more likes and comments than newer posts. The same was true when I started comparing IG posts. I used to get comments all the time on various posts and now I get... Next to nothing...
I miss chat rooms too, and I love that Discord is trying to be that in a way.
However, that said, I'm now in several writer discord servers and they're all the same thing with most of the same people, and so the same content is being posted across several discords for those handful of people who aren't all on the same server. So I'm seeing the same content multiple times across servers.
Add in the fact that I'm closer to the west coast, in a different time zone ANNND I work night shift, and I'm coming to conversations after everyone else has said their piece and moved on, making me feel so behind on conversations I'd love to be a part of. It can be very disheartening.
Yes, the time zone thing is definitely an issue on my Discord too, and one you can't really fix. It's one reason I also miss good message boards.
I'm not in the phase of creativity where I'm wrestling with algorithms for visibility... but I 100% get the vibe you're touching on where the internet somehow feels less connected than it used to feel (yes surely due to mass monetization & consolidation). It's like the more people are in a section of the internet, the more I just feel like a tiny pointless blip in an ocean of voices. I don't bother engaging in 99% of videos/reels/whatevers I'm spoon fed by the socials because I don’t see a point. I'm not going to make an internet friend. At this point I think the only way to really make internet friends the good 'ol way is to find like... niche af discord servers with like less than 100 people. And even then, it's so hard to find those things when you weren’t there when it organically started. The internet used to be where I found social connection in my generally introverted life, and now... idk I'm just as socially isolated here as I am irl as a 30-something year old who doesn’t live in their home town. I yearn to find a tight-knit chill online community again to have some internet buddies. It's tough out there, and all the current socials have outlived their welcome. Remember in early internet when website rose and fell within months like fads? They'd be abandoned as fast as new tech released -- which is light speed, but somehow the commercialization & monopolization has just kept these crappy social sites alive for years n years.
Also the paid discords from creators... yes I get it's necessary to keep the population low and cozy when creators have big followings. And yes it also feels like transactionally paying someone to be your friend which is also just weird all around 😅 idk I'm in at least one of these sub based discords and I feel too embarrassed to actually talk to the creator themselves and just engage with their other followers on occasion. Maybe that's just me. I don't have an answer for improvement to that process. That's just been my tiny experience.
I like when I actually meet the people I’m mutually subscribed with. Then we are able to keep up with each other as we post.
I don’t use any of the other platforms.
@@LilyGazouTrue, that's one way to actually get around being dependent on just what the algorithm recs
i feel like social media got too dystopian and now my world grows more from intimate connections than institutions. sometimes it’s a deep connection with irl people and sometimes online but in the end the only temptation post 2000-2020 internet comes from perceived authenticity. perhaps perceived authenticity is the only thing people find interesting…art, stories, religion etc.
I would like to show up for a livestream of a fire pit, where people could take turns showing up to chat. About books or horses or art. Whatever. We would all be drinking tea😂.
Yay! Capitalist hellholes! What a fascinating topic. It's interesting that we seem to be feeling the same way. You'd think that when AI and marketing templates annoy and/or infuriate so many people, that platforms would try something different. Art in all its forms is suffering, it seems, which really lends an extra dark stroke to the feelings that the entire world is falling apart. You don't know how important art is until you don't see it around anymore.
I miss livejournal so much. I made some truly good friends there.
I love dystopian cash grab comment. It totally feels like this. I recently went on a retreat and used my phone less. I felt more myself without this constant buzzing of telling me what is new, what I should buy and the repeats of information. I started to think --- being plugged in all the time really takes away your time. Time is more precious than we think.
My anxiety and mental health was in the toilet so recently, like a month or 2 ago, I deleted my social media (twitter, instagram and tiktok specifically) accounts and I feel so much better. I'm 35 and started with Myspace as a teenager. I have Facebook only because that's the only way to get a hold of some people otherwise I wouldn't have that anymore either. I'm on here and sporadically on Tumblr and Reddit. I've been working on less internet time and focusing on my health and feeling so much better. Unfortunately I don't know how i'm going to market when I finish my book but I know it's not worth my sanity and health so i'll figure it out somehow. When I deleted my Instagram I also noticed my feed was almost nothing but cat videos and not the people I followed.
And I like youtube because I prefer the long form personal content compared to the short quick impersonal stuff.
I am in the exact same boat! Let us know what you end up doing once you start marketing your book! I'm intrigued by other options besides social media.
@@smeastwest Thank you. Good luck, to us both!
Same here! Though it was when Reddit changed their API to shut down third party apps (that were made because Reddit's app is garbage). They made that decision for me! P much only use UA-cam and discord now.
A publisher said that I should be advertising on Facebook, Instagram, etc. I just said NO. I will do a UA-cam video and you can upload that video to whatever other social media you want, but I will have nothing to do with these awful platforms. UA-cam is bad enough, with its constant promotion of Jordan Peterson and the like. I should say, however, that I am 76, have NEVER owned a television set, and use a clamshell phone that I don't even carry around with me. I'm not a technophobe, but consider half the population totally nuts with their willingness to be absorbed into the "Borg."
It's super weird, and actually full of weird ads all over Facebook, Instagram, Twitter... I only follow certain youtubers (such as yourself) and browse some reddit (writing and publishing related), where ads are less invasive. Otherwise I catch up on Whatsapp w/ my friends. I'm an author too, promoting on social media has become mostly pointless. When I enjoy a writer I just check from now and then if they have some new work up.
I am myself. I am a multitude of things. I only learnt how to be this recently. I also have a day-job that affords me the freedom I need to be creative in my own way. The game isn't for me. I think people are burnt out from playing it. I make some extra $ from my creativity but that's a bonus. I need the art to survive, that's what gets me up each morning, not the $
It used to be a way to express yourself and interact and connect with people in the way you chose. Now it's gone completely corporate. They want to control who, when and how everyone is communicating. And if you are not furthering all the crap they're trying to put out there you will find yourself with less and less connections.
I am with you. I started working on the net when there were about 5000 email addresses. In the world. Think of it like a big city -- the bigger it gets the more people become isolated from the crowds. And when people annoy each other in a small town, there's some cost to offending people. In a big city, a lot of people feel like whistling at a stranger in a short skirt is just fine, or being rude to some mother with a squirmy kid on the bus is just a normal day.
The internet is pretty much the same. Transactional and rude.
Also -- not micro-communities. Silos. People use the net to isolate themselves from wider society.
But yes, I miss LJ.
Sigh.
I think to be successful with SM marketing people have to approach the "pitch" with authenticity and personalization. Standing out as a brand is truly about customer service. I think SM is going the route of live content. Have you ever seen some of these live chats thrive?! It's crazy. I get it, SM is saturated. Marketing yourself and knowing your target audience is probably the only way to compete with the algorithm.
Is there any point in me saying that I like your content? I like when you have random topics. I like your nerdy bookshelf-self. I enjoyed your Montgomery video and felt your shock and distress after Helene. I don’t like UA-cam deciding for me. I’m not a creator but the platform is now completely commercialized.
I like Substack also. 🐇
Late comment, but I feel like bluesky is pretty lively right now, though I haven't tried it for marketing. I'm spending most of my social media time on communities over on discord, though.
It's definitely getting weird. Even my meta ads are getting barely any visibility. Like what am I paying for?
I think the internet used to be a place to meet people. Now it feels more like a place to interact with people you already know. I'd say that 95% of my online experience these days is discord based because it's one of the last places where I can actually meet and get to know real people. Tumblr is probably the most "authentic" social media that's still around, but probably not great for advertising.
Another factor is the election. Certain slants are being promoted and others diminished.
The US election right? I wish we were like France, where the campaign season is limited to just the month before, instead of...2 full years before 😂
@@celisewillis Yes.
Sooo...does anyone know of a company that has brought back something like ... Chat Rooms? So simple! Yet gone for ever?? 😭
With Threads being just another Meta product, I haven't been able to bring myself to go there, yet. I see post snippets on Instagram or Facebook. I was a big Twitter user right up until Musk ownership. My personal favorite space is Mastodon. I'm on Bluesky, but most posts I see are political, so I'm not comfortable posting about my writing in the middle of that. Discovery, these days, is a huge challenge. A decade ago, the writing community felt way more lively. These days, the books that make a splash seem to fit a narrow mold. I'm still hoping to make a living from my writing so I can afford to put more time into it, but that dream feels more challenging than it used to. I don't know the answers. But it sounds like people are over cookie cutter marketing plans, so I guess we all just have to figure out what works for us? 🤷♀️ Whatever the answer is, no doubt it'll be superseded soon after. It's exhausting. Keep writing & wait & see, I guess.
PS Lots of UA-camrs I watch have mentioned their discord and/or substacks. I get the impression these are (or maybe can be) paid. 🤷♀️
Facebook is definitely going the way of the dinosaur, but TikTok is still fresh. I mean, it's a window to the world. I get lives from cyberpunk cities and war zones and backyards in Ghana. It's incredible, and I feel more connected to people than I ever have.
Tiktok is great in a lot of ways, when you can find your community! I follow a lot of artists; I love seeing the progress videos on their work.
tbf didnt people pay community leaders for their hosting of community because people would quite literally have to pay for server space to keep a website running? it's almost like a tax for community benefit, makes lots of sense! discords are free, but makes sense to paywall it with your patreon as a package deal simply because they can get hectic with too many people via a low barrier for entry lol
But I am trying to figure out where do people go now, what if I want to find real people who interested in same hobbies? Reddit is all anonymous. I hate fb and ig. Where otherwise can I find a community to be involved with? I have no answer ;(
Substack was feeling energized, but already peaked I think and then they tried to make it more like Twitter and UA-cam and now it’s going downwards.
The Internet has been going downhill since the time when commercial activities were prohibited on it (mid80s) and the endless September of AOL had not yet happened. It was more fun and the quality of discourse was better when it was just a private playground for crunchheads and our mode of communication was the essay.
Kinda kidding, kinda not. I never really made the leap to social media. I don't know anywhere online these days where people communicate by sharing essays on an even footing.
Dystopian cash-grab…nailed it!
Yeah, also it's becoming more like TikTok, lot of social media sites implemented short vertical videos that are designed to keep people "doomscrolling", and the discusión section is very hard to use, I disactivated most of my social media some months ago.
17:55 I would as well These social media sites (Including ytube) are awful with this stuff. Most FB platforms don't allow you to see the latest posts from the people you follow which is what I want to see, not to mention how instagram is about nothing but novelty and circus now. On youtube god forbid I accidentally click on a joe rogan clip I'm tangentally interested in or any of the other algorithm holes my recommended feed will be FILLED with those clips. I wanted to refresh my knowledge on the reilly drawing method a couple months back, the video was great and informative but now ytube believes that I want to watch 800 more videos on that subject, yet when I want to use the algorithm to discover new things like music or what not they recommend the same 5 videos. I do enjoy youtube because of their push to show more smaller creators though which hearkens back to the earlier days where people were more authentic, more personal and less transactional than they are now because the smaller creators haven't streamlined everything,but as you said you NEED to be talking of only one subject or you will be thrown out of the algo.
Its not just you. Its weird.
I’m not into romance anymore and I’m seeing other people move away from that genre as well. I still love fantasy but without romance.
Marketing is harder now. Getting seen is harder. I'm trying to be more creative and not sure about don't ADs again. Thinking about focusing on my strength of worldbuilding and making videos about it.
Honestly, I rather be writing than marketing. It's so draining. At least traditional marketing, like tropes and whatnot.
Remember geocities? Those were good times!
Oh yeah, Geocities and Tripod, I ended up being more of a Tripod girl, LOL
We need to blame Gary Vee and Kim K for all of this.
I am getting very very very bored on UA-cam. It's getting close to become like daytime tv. Except a few niche creators related to my hobbies and interests like your channel.
Otherwise I am really contemplating limiting my time on platforms because I am hardly discovering or learning anything new or useful.
The robot/AI/algorithm overlords are already here, I guess 😢
Thank you for this video. I hope you and people near to you are doing well.
I just feel that on one hand people think, because they have some anonymity, that they can say whatever they want and be as deranged and insulting as possible and on the other hand a lot of people censor themselves, because they are scared of saying something wrong and being judged.
And on top of that, as a lot use social media to sell something, most might suspect an ad and don't show real interest. Of course I want to market myself and have people interested in my projects, but I'd also love for discussions and questions in the comment section, for me and others, that stumble over a post, to have.
I'm not so confident, that things will change in the near future, because the job market and economy in most places is just really bad at the moment and people either need a second income or are trying to escape the job market all together by getting internet famous.
I agree! I think that it's not exactly "anonymity" that creates the toxicity; otherwise Facebook and Twitter (where most users are using their IRL name and try to maintain a "brand") would be the nicest place on the Internet haha.
I actually find that modern Reddit (where most people are anonymous) are a bit kinder, especially in the more specific subreddits. I think it's because you can upvote/downvote. So a community has a say in whether a comment adds to the conversation.