And why it’s not Facebook or Instagram
I just finished reading Sarah Wynn-Williams’ book Careless People, which, if you aren’t familiar, is basically a tell-all from a former Facebook employee, and let me tell you, everyone needs to read this book. It’s one thing to have a sense of the evils Facebook has perpetrated, but it’s another to hear it told directly from someone who had access to the top leaders at Facebook. Someone who brought receipts.
And while I know I can often recommend books that are challenging to read, this one is not. I read it in a day. (And I’ve heard good things about the audiobook.) Seriously, everyone needs to move this to the top of their TBR.
Reading this book also made me feel good (good is a relative term) about the decisions I’ve made to distance my business from Facebook/Meta/Instagram over the last several years. My Facebook presence has always been weak at best – basically pushing IG posts and Mailchimp notifications to my business pages – but a few years ago, I stopped running any advertising through Facebook, and I all but quit Instagram in 2023. (I’ll admit that my quitting of Instagram has more in common with a smoker who “quits” but still bums a smoke from friends while out drinking, but I’m not the active user or advocate I once was.)
As a marketer, I’ve made these decisions very consciously. And when people ask me why, my ultimate answer is that I don’t want to employ a marketing strategy that relies on people spending their time on these toxic platforms.
You may have similar feelings, but you may also feel hesitant to quit, because, well, business. This is especially true right now if you’re experiencing a slowdown of your business.
And I’m in no way telling you that you have to quit Facebook or Instagram, nor am I judging anyone who continues to use it. If that is the best way for you to market your business and it’s working (this last part is key) I understand needing to do what’s best.
But if, like me, you’re trying to divest your business from Meta-owned platforms, I thought you might appreciate hearing what I’m doing for marketing instead.
Right now, I’m employing a four-pronged approach to marketing my jewelry business: email marketing, craft shows, wholesale outreach, and Pinterest.
Email Marketing
I’ve talked at length about why email marketing still matters in 2025, and I’m sticking to that. And if you’re trying to rely less on Facebook or Instagram, getting your followers to join your email list is an important step in that process.
Craft Shows
As far as craft shows, after swearing them off for years, I made the decision to return to shows in the fall of 2023. The fact that this coincided with my Instagram break was not a coincidence. I knew I wanted to find a way to connect with customers that didn’t require them to spend hours on social media. And shows seemed like the right way to do that.
Wholesale
For wholesale, I’ve focused on maintaining my presence on Faire and reaching out to stores both through Faire and my own wholesale list. Just like with shows, I want to support ways where customers can engage with my products that aren’t through social media.
But even as I focused on all of this, I realized that I still wanted some sort of online presence that could expose my products to new customers. So I decided to bring my attention back to Pinterest.
If you’ve been around here for a while, you know that I’ve always been an advocate for Pinterest as a marketing tool for artists and makers. I ran my first class on Pinterest over a decade ago. (And am still running one now.) But after some changes to the Pinterest algorithm dropped how much reach new content got, I’ll admit I stopped putting energy into it as a marketing tool.
And I’ll be the first to admit that Pinterest isn’t perfect either. Reach is still a challenge, as is the Pinterest lag, which seems to take longer than ever these days. But as far as I know, Pinterest has never helped swing an election, or conspired with an authoritarian regime, or helped incite genocide. (If you aren’t sure what I’m talking about, go read Careless People.) Pinterest isn’t perfect, but I feel much better sharing my content there and occasionally giving them some of my money in the form of advertising spend.
Everyone’s business is different, and everyone’s marketing needs are different, but the more we learn about the problems of Facebook and Instagram, the more people I know who are trying to divest their business from these platforms.
And if that’s you, know that you’re not alone! And know that there are other people out there making these same decisions for their businesses.
Even with all the criticism of these platforms, there’s still a lot of pressure to keep using them to market our business. (One of the reasons I haven’t quit IG completely is that craft shows still use it as a way to review applicants to their shows — something I hope will change in the near future.) But ultimately, it’s your business, and you get to set the rules.
If you don’t want to do business with a company you find morally repugnant, then don’t.
If you want to take a middle ground, as I have (keeping my profiles up but posting only occasionally and not spending advertising dollars) that ok too. It’s tough out there for small businesses.
And if you rely on these platforms for some or all of your revenue, I get it. My goal in this post isn’t to guilt or shame you. Instead, I simply want to present alternatives so that, if you ever get to the point where you want to leave or reduce your time on these platforms, you have the resources to do so.