Hey there! I’m Mikala—a family doctor, wife, mother of 5, well-being advocate, and author of the books Ordinary on Purpose and Everything I Wish I Could Tell You About Midlife. Each month my writing reaches millions of women, but I am thrilled to be connecting with YOU. I’m truly grateful to have you here!

Why I Quit Social Media Marketing as a Traditionally Published Author (and what I'm doing instead!)

Why I Quit Social Media Marketing as a Traditionally Published Author (and what I'm doing instead!)

Mikala Albertson-Owner

I’ve been wrestling with something for a while, and I finally made my decision…

I quit.

I can no longer seek satisfaction from something designed to leave me fully unsatisfied. I can no longer contribute to a system that hurts so many who scroll. I can no longer participate in social media.

It’s true, social media was a gift to me in many ways these last seven years. I’ve grown as a writer, met my wildly smart, compassionate, creative best friends, landed a literary agent, traveled to book conferences, and released two books through a traditional publisher. In any given month my words reach well over 1 million eyes on social media, and I’m absolutely thrilled to call myself an author.

And…

I truly believe social media is making me sick. It is making us sick as a society.

We’ve become accustomed to instant gratification, haven’t we? And nearly all of us use social media as a mind-numbing escape—words upon words, meme after meme, AI photo after AI photo, comment upon comment, ad after ad. Have you ever forgotten why you picked up your phone, then suddenly realized 40 minutes have passed? This happens to me all the time.

We scroll. We worry. We shop. We comment. We compare. And somehow no matter what we have, it will never be enough. We believe (because we are told repeatedly via social media marketing) that our beautiful ordinary lives could be better. They should be better somehow!

This concept has certainly been true of my writing.

When I started building a social media platform, I remember thinking 1,000 followers would surely be enough. But when I reached 5,000 followers, I instantly began aiming for 10,000. At 50,000 followers, I knew I had enough to pitch a publisher for a book. But within two months of my first book release, I felt hungry for something more. What now? What’s next? Now, with well over 200,000 followers between my social media platforms, I’m focused on sales of my second book. How can I get more, more, MORE???

It's sick. I feel sick. Social media is making us sick!

The truth is, I want to write because I love to write. To create because we were created to be creative by the most beautiful Creator. To connect with real people face to face in my real life. To walk my dog and plant flowers and tell my stories and refinish antique furniture and read poetry and volunteer at the food pantry and meet my friends for lunch.

I’m embarrassed to admit this change feels difficult for me. I’ve become attached to the external validation I receive. Plus, I’m terrified that leaving social media will mean no further book contracts (because having a platform is a requirement from publishers). And I will miss many of the deep and life-giving connections I’ve found on social media.

But I know without a doubt that scrolling mindlessly simply isn’t the way for any of us to spend the precious hours of our one beautiful life.

So, how can we find true connection and share our creative work more effectively WITHOUT social media? Here’s where I’ll be focusing my energy as an author moving forward:

1.  Daily writing practice and creativity JUST for the purposes of being creative

2.  An updated and functional website including monthly email connection with the readers who LOVE to read my writing

3.  Frequent podcast guesting

4.  Regular Pinterest pinning and posting with links that point new readers to my website

5.  In-real-life experiences like mornings at the food pantry, walks with my dog, time spent in the garden or at yoga classes, lunches with my girlfriends AND speaking events, book clubs, and local small-scale classes about any and all topics from my new book

6.  Networking with other creative-minded people

It turns out, there are lots of ways to share our creativity with the world AND live both presently and contentedly in our good, hard ordinary lives (these lives we actually have). But none of it has anything to do with algorithms or scrolling. So when it comes to social media, I can think of no other option.

I quit.

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