Wow. Thank you all so much for your encouraging feedback these last 24 hours. When we decided to leave social media, we assumed a few people would sympathize with us, but we also expected a generous slather of negativity (because that’s what these places are so good at). But it turns out we were not alone. Since that post yesterday, we’ve been buried in comments and emails from deeply appreciative readers who have long shared these concerns. (Please be patient – it’s going to take some time to respond to all the feedback.) Some of them told us they left social media awhile back, others said they might soon follow suit, and a good number of people told us that Monday’s post pushed them over the edge to finally delete their accounts. I cannot tell you how this makes my heart sing. Our exit decision was described as “brave,” “courageous,” and “inspiring.” Ironically, Monday’s announcement might be our most popular Instagram post in our five years on the platform.
I have to confess that I am flabbergasted and somewhat taken aback by this enthusiasm, because if you listen to the conventional narrative, it’s easy to get the impression that you are no one unless you’re on these platforms. We’re told that opting out will make us lonely, isolated exiles.
In the last 24 hours, I’ve seen firsthand that this is a lie – there are so many people wanting their lives back. And they’re walking out too.
We were also surprised by the number of business owners who reached out seeking advice about how they too can disassociate their business from social media without sinking their ship. Though I am no marketing expert, I have run a couple businesses over the years, and I have some thoughts based on my experience, which I plan to compile into a blog post in the next week or so. I hope my two cents will help those folks who are wrestling with the same questions we have.
Lastly, I forgot to mention in Monday’s post, that an alternative to signing up for the blog notification email list, you can add our RSS Feed to your aggregator/reader. (It’s at the top of our blog feed: https://www.mortiseandtenonmag.com/blogs/blog.atom) I’m grateful that a few people pointed this out since I forgot to mention it.
Thanks, y’all. It feels so good to have such strong support.
– Joshua