Introducing Social Mirror (Blog): A New Approach to Social Media
I’ve always been uneasy with the reliance on social media for both our personal lives and businesses. Their pervasive influence has, in many ways, taken over our interactions. In today's world, it's nearly impossible to function without social media. Completely avoiding these platforms would mean losing precious connections with friends and family, and for those of us with businesses, missing out on vital tools to reach the public. In reality, abandoning social media entirely is not practical for most of us.
We've largely surrendered to the constraints of these platforms. We follow their rules, post images optimized for their display, and are often limited by character counts or lack control over who accesses our content. Although these platforms are 'free,' they come at a cost: loss of control, ownership, and authentic communication. Essentially, we're renters on the World Wide Web, not owning any part of what we share. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram have nearly unlimited rights to use our photos and videos for their own benefit and ad revenue. This doesn't even touch on how they share our content with governments, whether voluntarily or not.
[Those joining me from my Instagram post continue below…]
I'm not suggesting we abandon social media. Instead, I propose we use it in a way that benefits us more significantly. Imagine a network of independent websites interconnected through blogs, images, videos, and other features that enhance sharing our personal and professional lives, without relinquishing control. This is my aim in repurposing my blog, where I share both personal and professional content. There are many ways to achieve this, and my blog is just the beginning of the idea and workflow that I’m developing to tackle the issues of total social media reliance.
How I’m Leveraging Social Media to Draw My Audience to My Website
I'm not offering anything revolutionary. Businesses have been trying to use social media to their advantage since its inception. They understand the importance of moving customers and clients from social media to their own websites. Although social media platforms now offer storefront features and other business tools, businesses still need website traffic to generate revenue and build online authority. The methods I’m suggesting here aren’t new, but I want to share them so you understand why my social media interactions are changing. If you’re curious, you can try these methods for yourself. And if you know of any other tricks I’ve overlooked, I’m all ears to learn!
Let’s take a look at two different systems of sharing online. One I call the Instagram Model and the other is the Link Model.
The Instagram Model
When you first started using Instagram and tried sharing a URL as a regular post, you probably found out right away that the URL you shared wasn’t clickable. In fact, it didn’t matter if you viewed the post online or via mobile, the link wasn’t clickable and hard to extract. That’s why we see the omnipresent “link in the bio” statements everywhere — you simply can’t click for direct access.
There are exceptions now with Instagram Stories, where you can share links, but these are limited to 24 hours. Regular posts remain until we or Instagram delete them. Despite these small exceptions, the typical Instagram model bypasses sharing all content by offering a 'link in the bio,' with the actual link available for those who copy-paste it. To minimize what Instagram finds useful, share your images and videos in a way that is self-promotional, making the content less valuable for Instagram to share or use for ad revenue. I’ll expand more on these ideas in future posts as I begin to implement and test these methods.
These are some of the ideas I’ll be implementing.
Create a website and purchase a custom domain. Unfortunately, there’s no alternative if you want your own space on the Web.
Watermark and brand the content that you post to Instagram so that it doubles as advertising for your website or blog.
Don’t use services like Linktree to share your content. Create a Directory on your website that serves the same purpose and does it better. Your ‘link in the bio’ then directs you to a page with an updated list of important pages on your website. See mine as an example.
When you post, don’t share all of your images, videos, and text there. Invite your audience to click on the link or use the provided URL to read the rest of the post at your website/blog. Essentially, you’re now posting only teasers.
Rinse and repeat. Make it standard practice.
I’ve recently discontinued my Twitter (X) profile due to lack of engagement. As a replacement, I’ve started using Threads. One benefit of Threads is its integration with Instagram, allowing you to share posts directly to your Instagram Stories. This means you can share short text captions with clickable URLs without making an official post or Reel. Note that links aren't clickable in Stories unless inserted, but using Threads as part of this workflow can save time and make crossposting easier.
Link Model
The Link model is the simplest way to share your website pages and blog posts on social media. Unlike platforms like Instagram that don’t allow clickable links, you can share your entire post via a URL. Then, you just need to add a caption and any relevant hashtags.
I currently use this method for Facebook, Threads, LinkedIn, or any other platform that supports clickable URLs.
Easy workflow:
Create your website page or blog post (assuming you’ve got your website).
Share on your social media pages.
Include captions and hashtags (hashtags if the platform allows).
The Link Model is my favorite because it allows me to share content without uploading pictures or videos to social media; I only need to provide the text. This is the most effective method for directing your audience to where it matters most. However, getting your entire audience to follow this approach can be challenging, especially at first.
What Do I Hope to Get Out of This?
I aim to gain several benefits by using the Instagram and Link models:
Streamlined workflow for sharing content.
Less uploading of original content to social media to license out or to be monitored.
Keeping social media while directing my audience to where it matters most, my website.
Encouraging others to try it out for themselves. I’d love to be part of a network that shares their lives and businesses using the Instagram and Link models.
Use social media for how it was originally intended, as a tool for network, not as a graveyard for our rights and time-pass.
This is just the beginning of my journey, though I’ve been using some of these methods for a while. Now, I’m eager to see who will join me in reclaiming our online lives.
