With the exit of Twitter from the stage, Mr. Musk has signaled to all of us, just how false the “social” component of social media is. Here’s the thing. n Facebook, regardless of how many followers you have, or how many Followers you get to your Facebook page, you’re content (unless you pay) is going to reach less than 1% of your followers. Twitter under Elon was changing everything. Mr. Musk took control of the algorithm, the “What’s Trending” and all other aspects of the once essential social media “breaking news” platform. He killed the trust that had been built and rebuilt over the 12+ years of the original micro-blogging or status-sphere app. As Twitter was canceled by becoming the symbol for cancellation, X, Mr. Musk continued to display how out of control a billionaire with a sense of omnipotence can warp the world toward their goals.

So, the big three are dying or dead: Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. All, are now run by tyrants. They want monetization at all cost. Even the cost of their own platform seems trustworthy or relevant. We will see in the coming year, how X fairs against the hoard of imitators. What Mr. Musk did was eliminate X from the rush to relevance. He may have had his sights on warping our attention toward Trump’s return to the White House, but the Revenge Tour on Musk’s dying platform is just another form of X, or cancellation. Self-cancellation.

Where will social media thrive?

If we’re going to get a town square we’re going to have to find a new town square online. My guess: It’s not going to be a new platform or the emergence of IG, Snap, Threads, TikTok. The monetized world of BIG SOCIAL has killed the golden goose of inclusion and community. There is no community on Facebook today. Even the communities we built on the “platform” in the form of Groups and Pages have been diminished by the systematic reduction in organic reach. Today, if you want to make a statement on Facebook and get the message to your “followers’ you’re going to have to PAY. And, Facebook is making money because the cost is getting extraordinarily high. Sure, I can boost any of my posts on Facebook. (You only see these boost options with Groups or Pages.) But even in that sales pitch, Facebook can’t make up its mind.

Here are a few metrics from my Page with 2,600 followers, or subscribers in the old world language of social media.

And this news about my BOOSTED post contains all you need to know about paid social on Facebook.

Yes, I got 43 “engagements.” This includes 25 emoji interactions. What the other 18 interactions were is a bit harder to figure out.

I guess 27.7X is a really good metric. Until you realize we used to get about 20% organic reach on posts to our followers. Now, we’ve got to pay to be seen by the people who thought joining our FB group or page was going to continuously keep us in the know about some particular topic. We have been lied to. Facebook no longer prioritizes the content from your friends or pages or groups. Facebook shows you posts and memes that have paid money to show up on your feed, based on the detailed demographics ALL OF THE SOCIAL SITES are keeping on you.

Engagement is the key to any form of marketing. If my boost got me 43 engagements, how can I see if that impacted my site or my business in any way?

Okay, let’s see how those 188 “engagements” improved my reach.

SIX clicks. I paid $11.99 for 6 clicks.

That actual engagement metric is less interesting. Yeah, thanks for the likes and hearts, but I want CLICKS. $2 a click is about twice what I pay when I’m bidding on pay-per-click advertising. Not posting information to my subscribers.

Here’s the future of social media: NULL

What we need to focus on, as marketers, writers, influencers, and friends:

• a platform that does not monetize your information or your friend’s information
• a platform that assumes 100% reach, as Twitter did in the glory days
• a platform that allows you to sell your demographic data and make money for you, not the platform
• a platform of the federated net, the fediverse, the Mastdadons of the world
• a platform of the future (let’s hope someone comes up with a winner)

Here’s the future of online community and conversation

• websites built around an audience and passion of the creators and readers
• email updates from content providers we really love
• RSS readers and feeds (we might need a new killer app to organize and respond to RSS content
• actual town hall spaces in the real world, where people go to chat (a local coffee shop full of our tribe – pref not a Starbucks)
• phonecalls over texting and FT over phonecalls (when appropriate)

What’s got to happen for social media to remain relevant: social is about the people, not the platform. The platforms we have today have failed miserably to protect the thing that made them cool. INTERACTIONS. As Musk, Zuck, and Gates crush the spirit out of the big social platforms, we’re going to have to find our way in the wilderness of the internet. We’re going to have to find our own tools. Build our own RSS landing page newsfeeds.

Really, what we need to do is start having conversations again. Remember when people used to comment on blog posts? Today likes and emojis have taken the place of real conversations. And for an advertiser on the social platform, LIKES do not equal CLICKS.

As social media platforms are self-canceling, we need to find better places to have conversations with one another. Where would you like to chat, today?

And just to make a point of it, minutes ago when trying to share this post.

Not sure what I did. Mean comment? Something about sex? A suggestive meme?

John McElhenney —  LinkedIn

Please check out a few of my books on AMAZON. 

Especially this one, about living a creative life of intention and joy.