Back in the day, social media was a great way to market everything from a small business to books. Nowadays, it’s a dumpster fire of misinformation, rage baiting for clicks, and a slew of mental illnesses. Despite all that, I try to reach my target audience. I’ve just changed my mentality a bit.
That’s because the world has been conditioned to think a huge following on social media is necessary to succeed. But is it really?
In today’s climate, is it worth your sanity to interact with social sites in the hopes of selling a book or getting some eyes on your blog? I suppose that is up to the individual poster.
5 Reasons I Avoid Social Media When Possible
While I’ve never been one to fully jump on the hype train of sites like Facebook or Twitter when they first came out, I understood their value from a marketing perspective. I’ve helped many clients expand their reach to boost sales and interactions.
Since around 2016, however, the prospect of using social media in this regard evaporated quickly. And every year since then, we’ve seen a steady decline in the return on investment.
But that’s not the only reason why I try to avoid using social media today.
External Links Are Shared Less Often
Referral traffic from social media plays less of a role today than it did about a decade ago. That’s because social media deprioritizes content that takes users off the platform. This is why cat memes will go viral, but few people will see the link to your latest book.
Instead, social sites want people to pay for ad space as referral traffic. That’s why most will have something like “Promote” or “Boost” options for your content. Why let something go viral for free when you can make a buck off of it?
Some social posts will get seen and possibly shared. But initially, you’ll find anything with an external link much harder to market. That alone makes sharing links on social media for free not worth the time to many people.
That is, unless you already have thousands of followers who might see your links. But for those who have fewer than a thousand followers, good luck.
Bots and Fake Accounts Galore!
It is believed that anywhere from 4% to 10% of accounts across all social media are fake and botted. Now, that doesn’t seem like a lot until you realize just how many accounts that is in general. In the first three quarters of 2025 alone, Facebook removed more than 2.385 billion fake accounts.
These fake and bot accounts are set up to do everything from post rage-baiting content to fake publishing services.
So, if you have 500 followers, there is a good chance that at least 50 of them are fake. Of course, certain social and political climates are often the most saturated with fake accounts.
Then, to add insult to injury, Meta planned to introduce AI-generated user accounts to boost engagement. Um, isn’t that why they delete billions of accounts each year? It’s OK if Meta does it on their own platform, but not if it’s a room full of iPhones.
Anyway, engagement farming is a real problem on social media. And I’d rather deliver barren soil.
Too Much Negativity
The state of the world at the moment is probably the worst I’ve seen in my 50 years of existence. And that’s including the mess that was 9/11. The difference today is that now there is a constant drumbeat of terrible things, escalating continuously.
I’m sure a lot of the chaos already existed; we just have easy access to it now through smartphones and social media. Still, I don’t remember as much mayhem on the nightly news as I was growing up.
Even as I try to focus purely on other authors, writers, and readers, the chaos remains in some form. At one point, I chewed up eight hours throughout the week doomoscrolling during my breaks.
Now that I removed a lot of that social time from my routine, I am far less stressed and anxious. I’m also a hell of a lot more productive during the day.
Now, I’m not entirely putting my head in the sand. I do get news updates on YouTube from certain creators. But I’m not spending eight hours wallowing in how bad things are at the moment.
Little Accountability On Social Media
I am a proponent of businesses keeping their house clean. But when a platform like Twitter (sorry, never calling it X) is essentially too big to fail, there is little accountability. Money equates to looking the other way, especially in politics.
This is aside from the fact that Twitter and its Grok AI continue to fan the flames without true consequences.
It’s difficult for me to support platforms that are morally questionable. Grok’s latest controversy with the images is a bridge too far for me, I suppose.
Keep in mind that I think Elon Musk is a twit, but that’s not why I’m leaving Twitter. If everyone stopped using a business because the CEO was a sociopathic idiot, there wouldn’t be many businesses left open.
Social Media Is a Serious Time Suck
On average, people spent 2.35 hours on social media each day in 2025. Do you know what I can do in almost two and a half hours? For me, that is the equivalent of a 2200-word blog post, 2000+ words in a book, or a new writing video on YouTube.
Or, I could play a couple of hours’ worth of video games with the kids. I could play a 9-hole round of golf. Or, I could bowl six complete games at the AMC. It’s kind of silly when you think about all the things you could do rather than scroll through social media.
In reality, I was never a big fan of social media to begin with. As the platforms became more popular, I would rather do other things, such as play games or work.
Yes, Facebook helped me re-establish communications with half of my family more than a decade ago. But for the most part, it’s all one giant vortex, designed to keep you on for as long as humanly possible.
Alternatives to Social Media
As an author, it’s crucial to get your name out there and promote yourself and your books. Unfortunately, a good marketing or PR campaign can cost quite a bit of money.
However, there are a few things you can do to get the eyes of potential readers. And for the most part, the engagement is far more focused than it is with social media.
In other words, you’re far more likely to reach your target audience.
Blogging and SEO
Blogging is still a great form of communication. Plus, it gives your fans a way to connect with you on some scale. While it might not be as interactive as social media, a blog offers information that is virtually set in stone.
With a bit of basic search engine optimization, you can reach readers through search queries as well. These are people who are intently looking for specific information. It’s not the shot in the dark social media has become.
Besides, you can set up your own bookstore, offer promotions, and create all kinds of things that will keep readers coming back to your site. It’ll take time to set up, but the results are often far superior to what you’d experience on social media.
Local In-Person Events
In reality, I’ve sold more books at live in-person events than I ever have on social media.
After spending a year promoting my books and posting more than five times per day, I didn’t sell a single copy of Kingmaker. However, I sold quite a few at my first Read Between the Stars event in Lakewood, Colorado.
If you live near a metro area, there’s a good chance you’ll find an event specific to authors. Finding these events is one of the few reasons why I continue to use social media. However, I turn to Google search before I open Threads or Facebook.
The great thing about in-person events over social media is that you’ll meet genuine people. Sure, you’ll still run across the occasional troll. But the chances are far, far lower, and you’ll interact with some amazing fans.
YouTube and Pinterest Reigning Supreme?
Out of all of the social media I’ve shared content to, YouTube and Pinterest generate the most views. For traffic acquisition in 2025, WriterSanctuary generated 274 visits from YouTube and Pinterest combined. And that’s only out of 27,613 visits.
Meaning that social media doesn’t account for much when trying to promote blog content.
In fact, Facebook is the closest social media platform for generating views at 23rd, while accumulating 15 referrals. That’s out of the entire year of posting five times per day.
What’s funny is that I haven’t added anything to Pinterest in about two years, and it’s still generating clicks more often than Facebook, Threads, Instagram, and Twitter combined!
Perhaps I’ll set up a case study this year about using Pinterest and actually finish it this time. Now, I’m curious.
TikTok?
While video platforms like YouTube and TikTok are still technically social media, video content is still one of the most effective for any brand. This includes bloggers and authors. I just hate the thought of using TikTok in general due to the…questionable…materials.
TikTok’s usage has grown steadily over the years, and roughly 43% of adults under 30 use it for regular news feeds. Of course, the numbers drop for those older than 30, but it goes to show how effective video is for sharing with an audience.
Yes, I have a TikTok account, but I rarely use it. In fact, at the time of this post, there is only one video on my page. And it was created a couple of years ago.
Eventually, I’ll get around to TikTok case studies for selling books. But for now, I have plans to use it to share clips from the author interviews I run on the YouTube channel.
The Post-and-Ghost Strategy
One strategy I’ve been using lately is the post-and-ghost method. I’m not sure who coined the phrase first, but it’s an apt description of how I deal with social media.
Post-and-ghost is when you post something on social sites and then never actually follow up on the comments or really put thought into views, likes, or follows. You essentially “ghost” the site. This is a strategy that a lot of celebrities use, as well as most politicians.
The idea behind post-and-ghost is that you’re still sharing the content while trying to target your audience. But after making the post, you simply ignore the app otherwise.
You’re less stressed, don’t have to deal with trolls, and still may potentially reach someone who appreciates your content. Add in the automation and scheduling apps like Buffer, and you literally don’t have to open the app ever again.
In the past, social media worked great to market just about anything. Now, it’s full of bots and AI that are genuinely not your audience. Not to mention the fact that trolls are rampant, attacking anyone with an opposing viewpoint, no matter how insignificant.
In reality, I simply do not have the time to sift through a continuous flow of “hot takes” or “tips” from bots or scammers.
For the post-and-ghost method to work, however, you have to not care about likes and follows. Otherwise, you’re still stressing out about interactions. People will follow if they think your content is viable. Unfortunately, so will the bots.
Realize that likes and follows are meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Most of the people who like or follow your account will never buy a book or visit your blog, regardless of what you create.
Using Social Media & Ignoring the “For You” Page
If you’re determined to make social media work for you, perhaps avoid the “For You” page. Instead, browse through the Subscription or Following feeds. These are posts from people you purposely follow, avoiding a lot of the crap that scrolls along social media.
Of course, you’ll have to dip your toes in the “For You” feeds to find additional accounts to follow. Or, you can simply visit someone’s shared social profile and follow them directly.
It’s a lot less stressful, and you get the content you want, not what the social app’s algorithm or AI thinks you might want to watch or read. Besides, the more you engage with that type of content, the cleaner your “For You” becomes as you are fed more of a similar type of content.
Well, that’s the belief, anyway. I’m going to try it as yet another case study, but a lot of folks have attested to cleaning up the “For You” feed by engaging more with who they follow.
Anyway, social media isn’t completely useless in this case. You can still interact with whom you want and avoid the trash.
How Often Do You Use Social Media?
At one point, I was going to attempt being more active on social media. But over the past couple of years, and keeping an eye on the data, it’s just not a valid use of my time overall. Yes, I’ll still post-and-ghost and maybe interact with a few accounts. But I’ve severely curtailed my usage of these apps.
It’s just not worth my time, really. I have blog posts to write, client content to edit, books to publish, college courses to ace, and instructional videos to make. I don’t have a lot of time for cat memes or political dumpster posts.
If you enjoy using them, that is completely up to you. I don’t look down on someone who actually enjoys using social media. It’s just not for me and what I want to do with my life.
I simply believe there are far better ways to burn through two hours each day.
- Free WordPress Course Coming to YouTube Soon - June 5, 2026
- Writing Goals for June 2026 – A Lot Has Changed This Year! - June 3, 2026
- What Is Reedsy Studio and Should You Use It In 2026? - June 1, 2026