The social media-less professional?

Social media. Without it, I would not have the career I have had in the media and journalism industries.

Until now. Getting work from social media remains a key part of my job and a good new business tool, but social media has been morphing into something that I want no part in.

The social media I knew of a decade ago is now a polarised web of platforms. I've likened the current form of social media to a tribalistic form of football where if you don't support a certain viewpoint, you are thrown into the gallows.

No social media? That's impossible

For the modern-day journalist or media professional, if you don't have any form of social media, then it is impossible for hiring managers to find your work or approach sources for stories.

Cision's State of the Media 2025 report found that 96 per cent of journalists use social media for many aspects of their job. From promoting their work to audience interaction and information gathering, social media plays a vital role for journalists in newsgathering and sharing stories.

Many friends who I have known in journalism and the media industries for years built their careers when social media didn't exist. While social media has made it easier for to build a media/journalism career, I've found that the quality of content is very hit and miss.

Almost half of adults on social media (49 per cent) are consuming news content that they consider 'deliberately untrue or misleading', according to Ofcom's 2025 Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes Report. There are times where I've consumed news content on social media and had to check whether the information in the topic covered its true or misleading.

Weaning off social media

For almost a decade, I've had a slow and gradual weaning off social media platforms.

While the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica story contributed to me going off Facebook, moving away from Twitter/X and other platforms took longer. If you account for brief appearances on Bluesky, TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram, I was starting to get tired of being active on social media.

Oversharing became a problem and I liked the idea of having a mysterious, private digital presence.

That's not to say I won't use social media ever again, but I'm increasingly using these platforms in a work capacity. When I see people sharing their personal lives on social media, it increasingly makes me uncomfortable.

Having in-person relationships that are maintained via text, email and phone are more valuable to me than social media. If I have something of value that I want to say to a friend, I'll contact them directly. Not everything has to be broadcast on a public platform.

Is it possible to have a media/journalism career without social media?

I don't know is the honest answer.

Building a career in media or journalism without any form of social media is not impossible, but extremely difficult.

How do you promote your work without having a platform for hiring managers and business owners to see it? What happens if the platform you produce content on goes under? Where can you recover your lost content from your portfolio?

I ask these questions a lot due to social platforms discontinuing or merging into larger platforms. While my website and newsletter is hosted on a content management system such as Ghost, my website was hosted on WordPress for over a decade.

As media and journalism professionals, we have to look at alternative platforms outside of social where we have control over our content. If that means creating websites or platforms that allow them to create factually accurate and entertaining content without being lost in AI and misinformation, then so be it.

In the meantime, I'll find a way to tell stories outside of social media platforms.