The most important platform for creators

In October 2022, during the whole Elon Musk debacle, I finally deleted Twitter from my phone. Around the same time, I also logged out of Instagram and Facebook. I had wanted to remove these distractions from my life for a while, and thanks to Elon’s shenanigans, I got the push to do so.

Six months later, I realized something that runs in direct opposition to almost every single piece of creator advice out there: I don’t miss having social profiles.

I’m not surprised that I don’t miss them from a personal perspective. It’s conventional wisdom nowadays: social media =/= connections. Without Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and so on, I have more time, more energy, and deeper connections with my actual friends. I read more. I write in my novel more.

But I also don’t miss them from a professional perspective. I’m not missing out on business opportunities. I’m not missing out on communicating with my readers.

I’m not missing out at all, as far as I can tell.

That realization inspired me to write this article. Today, the prevailing advice is to create a profile absolutely everywhere and post nonstop until you get traction. But in my experience, that’s bad advice. Here’s why.

The people giving you that advice are gurus who want to bring you to their platform, because that’s how they make money.
(Most) platforms take time and don’t give you anything back.
It’s easy to get caught up in the hype. Pay attention to your own desires and skills before investing.
Let’s break it down.

Gurus want to bring you to their platform — that’s how they make money.
Two years ago, I created a Pinterest account. Why? Because a likeable Pinterest influencer (McKinzie from Moms Make Cents) persuaded me that that’s where all the money and views were:

“Pinterest is my FAVORITE way to direct more traffic to your website…and that means more page views, sales and $! Through this course I want you to refine your Pinterest strategy and give you the start you need to grow your business!”

“I’d love more page views, sales, and $!” I thought. So I signed up to her free email list and took her admittedly useful free course on how to get started with Pinterest.

Ultimately, I made two pins, got mediocre traffic, and bounced.

The same thing happened to me with Instagram (thanks Beth Kirby!), Twitter (Nicolas Cole), TikTok (don’t even remember), Mastodon, LinkedIn, and probably several other social media platforms that aren’t even around anymore.

McKinzie, like the other gurus, had a vested interest in convincing me hers was the right platform to make it big. It’s not malicious — I do the same thing with blogging. I started blogging, was successful, and now share tips on how others can do it, both for free and for money.

But what worked for her didn’t work for me. All it did was make me feel like there was yet another place to post, another place to keep up with, another source of followers I had to maintain and learn about.

Creators want you to try out their platform, because that’s how they make money. They want you to feel FOMO, because that’s how they make money.

It could be that what McKinzie said about Pinterest was true. I’m sure that for many of McKinzie’s readers, Pinterest clicks.

But for me, it didn’t.

Again, it’s not malicious. Most creators aren’t trying to trick you. But they’re biased.

McKinzie wanted me to feel that I need to learn how to use Pinterest and be on Pinterest, because that’s how she got me to sign up to her list, check out her free course, get value, and ultimately buy her paid course. Our best interests don’t always align for that reason.

So when you hear promises about a platform, take a moment to reflect: is it a platform you really like and enjoy? In that case, feel free to take advantage of the resource.

But it might just be a biased creator who is trying to make you feel FOMO even though, deep down, you know it’s not a platform that will work for you.

You should narrow down your platforms because the people who persuaded you to expand in the first place can’t know your situation, talents, or story.

Every platform takes time from you.
Instagram was a different story. I persevered on Instagram for a long, long time.

I followed all the “rules.” I posted regularly, I religiously used every new feature IG rolled out (who remembers IGTV?), and I always asked readers to comment, scroll, like, whatever.

I got 2k followers! And… nothing else. I don’t want to think about how much time and energy I wasted trying to stay “on top” of Instagram. And for what? I got a handful of email subscribers (hi, if that’s you!) and some likes. No clients found me through IG. I never got sponsors.

My time on Twitter at least provided entertainment, but no business opportunities or growth. None of the other platforms ever panned out for me. To date, my two most (and only) successful platforms have been blogging and YouTube.

It’s easy to think that it won’t take much time or energy to post on these platforms, isn’t it? How long does it take to write a tweet? But this is a fallacy for two reasons:

It’s never just one tweet. It takes time, consistency, and effort to keep up with platforms. Look at successful Twitterers, Instagrammers, etc. How many posts have they made? I bet it’s in the 100s or 1000s.
You don’t just spend time, you lose it. Time is a zero-sum game. Every minute I spent on Instagram, choosing a picture, filtering it, writing a caption, scheduling it out in advance? It’s a minute I wasn’t spending on writing or filming.
Think of the opportunity cost. You should narrow down your platforms because you cannot keep up with more than two.

Your skills and interests make you a bad fit for 99% of platforms, and a great fit for 1%.
I have the benefit of hindsight, of course, but I think if I had to actively predict which platforms would be successful for me, I would have chosen YouTube and blogging regardless.

Why? Because:

I like and am good at writing.
I like and am good at being on camera.
I like and am good at explaining complex things in a simple way.
All those factors make me a good fit for writing a blog and YouTube. They make me a bad fit for Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.

I am not good at thinking of pithy things to share with others (Twitter).

I am not good at LinkedIn broetry (LinkedIn).

I am not good at editing images (Instagram and Pinterest).

I am not good at staying on top of trending things (TikTok).

I challenge you, right now, to think about what you’re good at, and what makes you happy. I bet you probably already know where your strengths and interests lie.

Ultimately, it’s the combo of skills + platform format that determine your success, not the platform itself.

You should go for platforms that let you showcase those strengths instead of thinking that the platform decides your success.

I fell into the trap of believing that good results would make up for a lack of talent or interest. I thought, if I got traffic on Pinterest, then I would be motivated to keep going, even though I didn’t really spend a lot of time there or enjoy using it.

It wasn’t true. I got 400 views on a pin, 10 views on a second pin, and then I stopped using Pinterest. I just couldn’t bring myself to care. Maybe if I’d been very successful from the beginning, I could have — but then I would have lacked the energy to bring the kind of consistency you need to be successful. It’s a chicken and egg situation.

You should narrow down your platforms because you won’t be a good fit for more than a couple anyway.

What should you do instead?
Being present on +2 platforms in any meaningful way is a mistake that someone else has persuaded you to do. It doesn’t make sense because a) it sucks your time and b) you’re not a good fit for most platforms thanks to your existing skills and interests.

I think a lot about success, and how to be successful online. There’s this idea that all you need is consistency. (I’ve written about how that’s not the case). There’s another idea that all you need is to be an early adopter. I used to rue the day in 2019 when I thought about making a TikTok account but didn’t. (I’ve also debunked that idea here.) Then there are those who claim it’s all luck.

It’s not down to consistency. It’s not down to luck. It’s not down to being early, so you don’t need to compete.

Those all help, of course, but what I think really makes a difference? Focus and intention.

Want to be successful online? Delete your Instagram, Pinterest, Youtube, TikTok profiles, or whichever you find drain your energy without giving back. Unsubscribe from whichever gurus keep giving you advice that isn’t working for you. (I won’t be offended if that’s me! I support your journey, with or without me!)

Focus on the platforms that work for you. I’d start with just two. And pick them with intention.

Do you have the skills to stand out and succeed?
Do you enjoy spending time (REALLY enjoy, not just find yourself scrolling because you’re addicted) on the platform regardless?
Do you think that, if you weren’t successful even after being consistent, you’d still want to post there?
You need yeses to each question for that platform to be worth it.

I challenge you to pick TWO platforms. Make sure they’re ones that meet the criteria I listed above. Commit to them. Focus on them. Go all-in on your strengths. Stop chasing the dream of other platforms.

And delete the rest.

(Or you can go for the less dramatic alternative, and just log out.)

I promise — you’ll miss out on a lot less than you fear.

Think writing might be one of your skills and interests? There’s no better place to blog than on Medium.

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