So Facebook has this new Meta one deal where you now have to pay to put links in comments and for 49.00 a month you can put SOME links in your posts. In the meantime reach on all their platforms is crawling to a halt.

I just started my art business in earnest within the last year and wondering if I picked the worst time possible to start such a thing with the economy being poop and social media dumping on us. I don’t know a solution, I’ve done instagram ads a few times here and there and its good for traffic and got me a few things like the album cover, but those are hit or miss even when paying for reach which I really hate doing and it adds up fast.

I know other artists and creators are having a hard time also. I’m not sure what to do here. Thankfully art isn’t my only income, or any income for that matter. In person shows aren’t a big option as I don’t go great at those, and with my mother in law being sick right now and son returning to college soon its hard to schedule anything ahead of time.

Where did the Blogs Go?

I discussed on threads how I constantly see posts about “OMG why don’t we bring back blogging?” and some of us never stopped blogging. Granted, I’ve moved and changed my blog around many times, but a lot of that was out of trying to find the best way for it to be seen. Side note, when I say blogs I do not count Substack. Substack is anohter social media platform with its own problems. But the blog issue brings me to the other problem: Links.

Social media not only throttles outbound links, but even when people do see them, no one clicks on them. I’ve managed to sneak a post through that got a good number of views with a link in the post. And maybe got one or 2 clicks. I even had people comment on it “so what happened?”

Like, CLICK THE LINK! But people just want to doomscroll and read everything on whatever social media they are using without clicking away. I’m not blaming individuals. We are all guilty of this because this is how the tech companies have conditioned us over the years.

Monetization Hellscape

Monetization of Facebook hasn’t helped. People use ChatGPT to write lengthy posts, crazy stories and fun anectodes about things that never happened, but are entertaining. So people can read all of that right their on their Meta apps, why click on a link?

AI Up our Asses

I won’t even get stasrted on all the Generative AI nonsense all over social media. That is a whole different blog for another day. I realize lots of things we use every day use AI, but thats different from seeing the EXACT SAME AI made flyers and memes and people creating profile pics with AI. My favorite is when people get compliments on their AI photo that looks nothing like them and they just accept them without stating its not really them. Anyway, I digress.

The Rise of Rage Bait

News sites with clickbait headlines don’t help either. Sites like “Taylor Swift makes shocking admission!” then a link. You click the link to find out she just had her first burrito a few years ago. I mean I like Taylor Swift but this kind of rage bait and sensationalism just makes it harder for the rest of us. Honestly, I blame Tik Tok. Their use of algorithmic feeds and For You timelines kind of ruined everything.

The Legacy of Enshittification

Its all been enshittified and there doesn’t seem to be a lot any of us can do. I’ve tried Bluesky multiple times and really wanted to like it. But there are maybe 500,000 users on there compared to millions everywhere else. Its almost all politics and absolutely no one there clicks links. Though I may try it again out of frustration. Most people I knew on there gave up, because their is no algorithm, so post just kind of end up in the void.

What Can be Done?

I know a lot of this particiular post is me complaining and I have no real solution. Well, the solution seems to be something I should have done ages ago and that is to build a newsletter. The catch is figuring out how to do that in the current environment and I am working on that now. Which reminds me, if you are reading this now PLEASE subscribe. I only do one or two blogs a week and I leave comments open. While you’re here, also check out my art!

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If you read this far, I thank you. This shit is hard and I’m an artist and blogger, because I apparently hate myself. But I’m doing my best. What are your thoughts on social media the state of online communities today? Comment below with your thoughts.