Life these days is less about where you live and more about why.

Tiny home living is a fascination I discovered years ago when publishing Modern Hippie Mag. The appealing comfort, security, and (relatively) smaller footprint of living in a 700 sq foot (or less) home is a cost-effective way to broadcast sustainability awareness and support.

However, "Buy bigger, (seemingly) better, and amass more stuff!" is our Western culture's pervasive (and environmentally detrimental) central theme, and I want out. Unsurprisingly, I'm not alone.

Reports show interest in moving abroad spiked after the 2024 election, like no other time in history, because folks want their residence to reflect their values.  

The same is true about business, too. We want to invest our time, energy, and dollars in companies that holistically align with our sense of self. Right?

Welp... I'd love only to support honorable and transparent companies and platforms with unwavering ethics. Yet, social media marketing using unscrupulous platforms has become a necessary evil, disguising ulterior motives.

Your primary focus and motivation may be to help fans and followers appreciate your creative arts, but staying updated with how new terms and conditions affect your audience matters.

Please consider that usage is an endorsement.

Trust me when I say I grapple with this, too. (Hence, my on-again/off-again Instagram love/hate relationship 🙄)

But it's becoming increasingly more challenging to ignore the questionable and downright nefarious behavior from Fuckerberg's Metaverse and the other one-letter "social" platform, as seen in the most recent mass X-odus to Bluesky.

So, how do you reconcile needing to promote yourself as a gig-working creative while supporting honest, fair, transparent, and humane marketing platforms?

Until the Taylor Swifts, Beyonces, and Cristiano Ronaldos of the world, and say, Oprah publicly boycott Meta and the other, nothing will change unless we do. Collectively, we can (and should) shift power to support collaborative open-source alternatives.

If the 5 billion folks in the Metaverse jumped ship, Meta would likely notice and substantially change their business model. But, more so, we would no longer be beholden to "do what everyone else is doing" because we're afraid to pivot.

Sure, other viable alternatives are in their infancy in comparison, but they exist and are primed and ready for you.

Ultimately, though, what's your motivation? Remember when social media was social, and we engaged in meaningful conversations and witty banter? Just me? Fine.

But if you're beyond treating your peeps as merely a commodity and want to create (and be a part of) a community, reconsider where and why you support (endorse) certain marketing platforms.

Here are a few tools to try:

• Get a one-time cost newsletter with free marketing tools → Sendfox
• Engage in 300-character threaded conversations → Bluesky
• Launch a no-cost community + marketplace → Bandcamp
• Try a no-ad, no-tracking IG alternative → Pixelfed

Get more recommendations from one of my new favorite writers, Joan Westonberg.

And check out the Free Our Feeds Movement by Dusty Schmidt via Bad Faith Times.

Hey, I get it. Change is hard, and we don't want to feel left out and left behind.

And while I know it's unrealistic to expect you will instantly abandon where your peeps currently hang out, at least we can start the conversation and eventual migration. What do you think?

~J

P.S. Hit reply with questions or send recommendations I can share!

P.P.S. Let me help you get started with new tools. Hit reply for a chat or get in touch.