You Have My Permission to Leave Twitter (or rather, X)

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You Have My Permission to Leave Twitter (or rather, X)

I quit Twitter in the summer of 2021. My mom had just died, I was starting a demanding new job on an interim basis, and had experienced some hostile interactions on the platform. I thought a break would be liberating, so I resolved to step away from Twitter for three months. No announcing my departure as some folks are apt to do, I just walked away.

And I never came back.

I’ve been somewhat of an evangelist for quitting Twitter for a few years now. Once Elon Musk bought Twitter in October 2022, I became even more convinced that the platform would no longer be a viable place for meaningful conversations to thrive. Musk has implemented numerous changes in his reign so far, many of which are generally agreed to be poor choices that negatively affect user experience.

So what does this mean for you or your business? If you’ve been hanging on to Twitter (or rather, X, as Musk rebranded it in July 2023), in the hopes that it still has some kind of value, this is your sign that it’s okay to walk away. 

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9 Things to Check Before Hitting Post on TikTok

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9 Things to Check Before Hitting Post on TikTok

So you’ve created an awesome TikTok and you’re almost ready to share it with the world. But wait! There are several things you need to check before you hit the big red ‘Post’ button. Reviewing these items is essential for optimizing your content so the algorithm knows who to serve it to. I’ll walk you through all the fields to check before hitting post so that your content can perform its very best.

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A Conversation with Kelsey Sweet: TikTok Strategy, Experimentation, & Collaboration

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A Conversation with Kelsey Sweet: TikTok Strategy, Experimentation, & Collaboration

This is the 17th post in the “A Conversation With” series, where I interview smart humans about their experiences in marketing and social media. You can read past features here.

This month, I interviewed Kelsey Sweet, Social Media Strategist for the Buffalo Bills, whose work focuses on influencer marketing, TikTok strategy, and cause marketing. In this blog post, we dive into wacky TikToks, analytics, mental health, and more.

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5 Books About How Social Media Shapes Our Culture & World

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5 Books About How Social Media Shapes Our Culture & World

This fall, I’m teaching a college-level social media course at Nazareth University. The students and I are both learning lots, and it’s been a great experience so far! The midterm project I assigned was pretty unconventional for a social media class: the students had to read a book about social media from a list of five suggested titles and then review it in a traditional paper and an Instagram post or TikTok. My goal was to encourage them to think critically about the platforms we use every day in our professional and personal lives. It was fascinating to read my students’ observations, discuss the books as a class, and see the intersections between them! Today on the blog, I’m sharing a little about each book and what it tells us about the myriad ways that social media shapes our culture and our world. 

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The Easiest Way to Add Multiple Links to Your Instagram Bio

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The Easiest Way to Add Multiple Links to Your Instagram Bio

Since its inception, Instagram has not allowed users to include clickable links in captions. The result is the infamous ‘link in bio’ culture, where individuals and businesses alike encourage their audience to visit their bio and click the one link there to follow through on the desired call to action. Because Instagram only permitted one link in a user’s bio, a few different workarounds arose so users could drive their followers to multiple different calls to action. Some people optimized their Instagram bio by using third-party tools like Linktree; others (myself included) advocated for creating a hidden landing page on your own website. Now, neither of those options is necessary, because in spring 2023, Instagram added the ability for users to include up to 5 links in their bio. It’s quick, easy, and effective! Here’s how to set it up:

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The TikTok Experiments, Volume 9: Using Trending Sounds on Every Video for a Week

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The TikTok Experiments, Volume 9: Using Trending Sounds on Every Video for a Week

In an effort to understand TikTok’s mysterious algorithm, I regularly conduct experiments to learn which tactics help videos gain traction. I’ve experimented with 3 minute videos, CapCut templates, an SEO hack, and more. In September, I experimented with a core component of TikTok videos: trending sounds. I don’t use trending sounds often; they’re not usually conducive to the kind of content I make. But trending sounds are supposed to be important in getting your videos seen, so for one week, I used trending sounds on every video I shared. To be frank, the results were surprising. 

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The Rise of Unhinged Marketing on Social Media (& How Your Brand Can Try It)

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The Rise of Unhinged Marketing on Social Media (& How Your Brand Can Try It)

This year, things have gotten unhinged on social media. The internet has always been a strange place, but it’s extra unusual lately. Recently, there’s been a shift to brands creating weirder and weirder content. No, I’m not talking about the snarky Wendy’s Twitter from the mid-2010s; I’m talking about the unhinged chaos of brands on TikTok and beyond. Today on the blog I’ll define ‘unhinged,’ explain the origins of the madness (and the rationale behind it), share examples, and offer guidance for when and how to try it. Let’s dive in!

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A Conversation with Megan Prather: Why Vulnerability on TikTok is Worthwhile

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A Conversation with Megan Prather: Why Vulnerability on TikTok is Worthwhile

This is the 16th post in the “A Conversation With” series, where I interview smart humans about their experiences in marketing and social media. You can read past features here.

This month, I interviewed Megan Prather, a certified coach who shares vulnerably about difficult parent relationships on her TikTok, where she has a following of 21,000. In this blog post, we dive into her approach to TikTok, why it’s worth getting vulnerable online, and how to balance content creation with caring for your mental health. 

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How to Schedule Posts Natively on LinkedIn

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How to Schedule Posts Natively on LinkedIn

Throughout my career as a social media strategist, I have long advocated for folks to 1) be more proactive and 2) utilize a scheduling tool. Scheduling your content in advance is helpful for increasing your efficiency, establishing a consistent posting cadence, and saving your sanity. I’ve tried both third party tools and built-in schedulers for each platform. LinkedIn was one of the few platforms that did not offer a way to schedule posts natively. I briefly tried Hootsuite for scheduling LinkedIn posts, but found it cumbersome and returned to posting in real time. Excitingly enough, LinkedIn recently added the ability to schedule posts right on the platform! I’ll walk you through the steps for scheduling your LinkedIn content to go live at a later time.

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