Over time, New Matilda readers might have noticed a significant drop-off in our engagement on social media. And by ‘significant drop-off’, I mean ‘we’ve stopped posting shit on social media’. Or as the Catholics might say, ‘Forgive me father, it’s been three months since my last Facebook post….’
As countless friends and colleagues have pointed out to me, that’s a pretty stupid strategy for an online media outlet, particularly one with 100,000-plus ‘followers’ across several platforms (Facebook and Twitter).
I can certainly see their point.
The good news is we’re still actively publishing stories at newmatilda.com. The bad news is that for now, at least, we’ve decided not to share those stories on Facebook or Twitter. There’s nothing to stop readers from sharing our stories on social media, but we’ve decided to take a break.
My reasoning is simple: despite there being many significant (and obvious) benefits to social media, in particular commercial advantages, there’s also many significant (and obvious) downsides, one of the more obvious being that social media tends more towards a ‘great big dumpster fire’… albeit one which we’ve helped stoke in the past. There’s nothing like a good old-fashioned social media pile-on to get the heart pumping, and New Matilda has certainly rolled in that particular dung-pile more than once.
Obviously, social media can be a force for good. But mostly, it’s just used to generate anger and anxiety, which drives clicks, which makes money. The irony of that being the business model of most news media outlets for at least the last few decades is not lost on me, but in any event, for now, we’ve decided to pause and have a think about how New Matilda uses social media, and how social media uses New Matilda.
We may re-commence sharing our stories down the track (maybe only positive stories, or our larger investigations?!), but not before we write and publish a formal policy on how New Matilda will engage with social media into the future.
While that review takes place, you can continue to access our stories direct at newmatilda.com, or by subscribing to our free weekly email digest. If you’re not already a free subscriber, you’ll see the subscription widget on the right hand side of the page (if you’re reading this on a computer); or you can scroll to the bottom if you’re on a phone or tablet. The first time you visit New Matilda, you should also get a pop-up window that gives you the option to subscribe (if you don’t, clear your browser’s cache).
And, of course, you can take a paid subscription to New Matilda – our shiny new subscription models are available here.
While all that happens, we’re restricting our social media presence to surveying readers, and seeking opinions… we figure we may as well tap into the ‘collective brains trust’ of the lovely folk who follow our work. And on that front, in the coming weeks we’ll also be formally surveying New Matilda readers, to see which way you’d like to see us head, and what ideas you might have for how to use social media in a way that doesn’t damage society.
So watch this space….
Chris Graham Publisher/editor