Instagram: To Leave Or Not To Leave

Instagram’s downsides are growing—does it still deserve our time?

Building an online presence while disrupting capitalism can feel like quite the paradox. Let me help you bridge that gap. Paid subscribers get access to weekly content prompts, monthly Q&As, and quarterly workshops all designed to help you show up online with clarity, consistency, and meaningful impact. You can do this, and I’d love to support you.

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Dear reader,

As a marketing pro, my mission has always been to help those doing the most good take up the most space online.

So, you can imagine how disorienting it is to hit my own breaking point with Instagram.

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The answer of whether or not to leave has never been simple. For one thing, my business started on Instagram. My very first client found me there, through a hashtag.

Since then, I’ve spent years helping people create sustainable social media strategies that take up less of their time and energy, while simultaneously trying to steer them away from investing too much of their precious bandwidth into it.

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So why now? Why am I, after all this time, asking myself whether I should leave?

Because everything that has always been true about Instagram—the data mining, the attention theft, the way it fosters performative outrage and polarization—has escalated to the point where its drawbacks increasingly outweigh its marketing value.

I hear clients and colleagues report that their followings have plateaued, their posts are getting less visibility, and they inexplicably lose followers whenever they post.

I see fascism creeping in through algorithms designed to reward controversy. I see misinformation spreading like wildfire while nuanced, thoughtful discourse struggles to gain traction. (Not just on the right, but on the left, too.) And I think: what am I doing here?

And before you think I’m about to say that Substack is here to save the day—sadly, when it comes to moderating hate speech, they’re no better.

Even though I love Substack for a number of reasons, unfortunately, “there is no ethical consumption under capitalism”.

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I spent the week of inauguration in a deep, immobilizing depression. The news is relentless. And every time I log onto Instagram, I see the ugliest reflections of our culture amplified.

Being Jewish in all this has been especially hard. I see Zionist friends unfollow me because I do not stand with Israel. I see Anti-Zionist friends unfollow me because I do not stand with Jill Stein. I see Elon Musk giving the Nazi salute. I see the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), whose supposed mission is to protect Jews, defending him while calling Jews who speak up for Palestine antisemitic. (Make it make sense.)

I’ve written about how lonely, overwhelmed, and triggered I feel as a Jew at this particular moment in history.

And now, I am tired. It has officially impacted my ability to do my work.

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It’s not that I want to tune out and miss the social discourse outside of standard media. I want to see the memes and reels and pithy tweets synthesizing big topics into bite-size, digestible, thought-provoking chunks. That’s what I love about social media.

I just don’t want to be suddenly dysregulated at 10am on a Tuesday because I decide to open Instagram to respond to a comment, only to have my attention hijacked by a grave injustice that I can’t do anything about right now.

I want the information; I want the commentary. I just want to control when and how much of it I consume. I want boundaries.

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So, for the last two weeks, I have taken Instagram and all other social media apps off of my phone.

And, guess what? I feel better. I feel more spacious. I feel more able to digest the news. I feel more equipped to have nonreactive conversations.

I feel regulated.

And, at the same time, my feed is collecting dust.

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As purpose-driven business owners—healers, activists, artists, writers, social entrepreneurs—we are faced with a real dilemma: opt out of the platforms that give our work visibility in the name of our sanity and integrity, or keep going because we deserve to be seen and we can’t let them win.

The oligarchy profits when we post, and they gain even more ground when we don’t.

So, how do we keep taking up space and build a presence in this toxic, algorithmic hellscape without letting the gatekeepers steal our peace, our power, and our purpose?

Let’s talk about it.

I am thrilled to announce Content and the Common Good’s inaugural quarterly workshop—one of the perks of paid membership (along with weekly content prompts and monthly Q&As).

Each quarter, I’ll host a class designed for purpose-driven small business owners who want to build an online presence while disrupting capitalism. As a paid subscriber, you’ll get access to every new workshop, plus the full library of past workshops.

Without further ado, I warmly welcome you to…

Right-Sizing Social Media as a Small Business Owner

Wednesday | February 26 | 1PM PST

In this highly interactive, one-hour workshop, we’ll cover:

• Strategic reasons to stay on social media.

• Strategic reasons to leave social media.

• The Middle Way—how to stay seen without feeling consumed.

• Crafting a right-sized visibility strategy that aligns with your values, well-being, and business goals

Zoom info is below. And please comment with any specific questions you’d like me to cover. Can’t wait!