Introduction

In today's fast-paced, digitally-driven world, social media has become an integral tool for business growth. Platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook provide unparalleled opportunities for reaching potential customers, building brand identity, and engaging with people. However, for many, the expectation of constant, consistent presence on social media can be daunting—and unsustainable. This is especially true within the framework of capitalism, where success is often measured by metrics that don't account for the unique experiences and needs of each of us.

The Pressure of Consistency in Social Media

One of the core challenges I’ve been facing is the pressure to maintain a consistent presence on social media. Algorithms favor those who post regularly, respond promptly, and engage continuously. However, for someone whose neurodivergence affects their ability to maintain consistency even harder, this has created significant stress in my life on top of everything else. These past couple of years have been turbulent for me for reasons I’ve shared on Instagram from time to time. In short, moving to Scotland and dealing with racism that is stuck in the 2000s made me so ill that I could not function. It’s been two years and I’m still only in the midst of (re)building my life and my sense of self.

The Role of Social Media in Modern Business

Unfortunately, social media remains crucial for business growth in today's world. Along with being unable to keep up with posting on social media consistently, I also couldn’t post blogs consistently. I made freelancer profiles on every platform I could, and I took any odd job I could—but I still had to borrow money, max out credit cards, and so on just to make ends meet. The only way I can truly walk away from having my autonomy limited is still to navigate a very inaccessible, racist, sexist, genderist world. The reach and influence of these platforms cannot be underestimated:

Visibility: Social media increases visibility, even with the discriminatory and silencing algorithm. It allows businesses to reach a broader audience without the geographical limitations of traditional advertising, and without reliance on having to pay for that advertising (though, of course, you can do that on social media too.)

Engagement: It provides a direct line of communication with people, which fosters engagement and loyalty that has also resulted in very dangerous outcomes e.g. QAnon, or other supremacist cults that are violently insular.

Legitimisation: Over the decades, I’ve seen it all: if you didn’t show how you were walking the talk, then you weren’t doing it at all. And if you did, then you were looking for accolades. Either way, the practice was always engaged with to silence people—including the silencing of critics who were either needing the proof or asserting performativity for providing it. Yet, we still live in a world where we are frictioning through algorithms created by capitalistic means.

I had to come to terms with understanding the importance of social media as the first step. The next is finding ways to navigate its demands in a way that aligns with my personal values and abilities. But, when you practice centring decolonial praxis, it feels improbable to find the balance, especially when AI enters the chat, while still finding ways to make your ends meet in a capitalistic, Statist, global market.

Learning and Navigating Social Media Skills

As a racialised, feminised, and pathologised neurodivergent striving to build a business on social media, I'm embarking on a journey to learn and adapt, while assessing myself against my values. Here's how I'm approaching this challenge while staying true to my decolonial values:

1. (re)Setting Realistic Goals: Instead of aiming for perfection, I’ll be setting tasks that consider my needs while also selling a piece of my soul to social media and the never-ending content machine in the hopes that it is a small price to pay for the offering I am ultimately attempting to make to the world. This might mean posting less frequently than other creators, but more than I do now, and with high-quality, authentic content.

2. Utilising Tools and Automation: Leveraging tools like scheduling apps can help manage posts without the need for daily engagement. Automation can be a lifesaver in maintaining a consistent presence. And no, automation is not the same as AI. But, considering that automation is a way to make outputs even more efficient and even more productive due to our never-ending consumption, of course it is no wonder that automation and AI are going to collab as soon as they get a chance, too.

And while it is easy to blame workers, including your neighbourly self-employed individual, maybe it’d actually be an idea to blame the few who demand us to increase our output, to do more, create more, engage more—more, more, more. So much so that even my DMs demand my time and attention in a world where time is money and social media users seemingly have a hard time differentiating between a parasocial relationship and something more than that e.g. acquaintances, friendships, partner(s), community members, and so on. So, even though I do my best to get back to the people who DM me, I’m still a racialised, feminised, pathologised neurodivergent. People will still make demands of me, of my time, that replying or engaging in the conversation takes up social battery that is already very limited.

How am I to protect that when I also have to work, care for myself, care for my non-human kin, care for the home I steward and all the spirits who dwell within it, and still somehow manage to take time off? It is impossible, in the world we’re currently living. Even more so when I’m on a visa in a foreign country without any “recourse to public funds” (so, no, I don’t get benefits), and it costs money just to be able to stay with my spouse here in the first place. All this to say, it is not outside of my purview to assess how the selling of a piece of my soul perpetuates this problem. But, it is also not something I can solely fix because I, too, need to eat. But, I digress.

3. Delegating and Collaborating: Building a support network and collaborating with others who understand and respect my values helps alleviate the pressure. For a while, I was feeling very alone on this side of the pond. In a contrarian way, it was social media that helped me feel less alone—because there were people out there in the ether who believed in the same things I did, and who also had to engage with this way of living to reach someone like me. So, rather than paying for advertisements (because we don’t need more of that), I’ll commit to being really discerning about who I am collaborating with. Similarly, delegating certain tasks to team members or hiring social media managers can make a significant difference. At the point in time, I don’t have the money to be doing that. I also don’t want to be anyone’s boss, so I’d much rather be sure to pay people what they need to be paid to live comfortably and only enter into working contracts if both of us feel like we’re a good fit together. Recently, one of my tutoring students, who is also stateless, is unable to pay me for the lessons she needs. I’m already an ‘affordable’ tutor as my fee is one of the lowest. But, and, also, I am not about to tell someone that I can’t teach them because education should be free in the first place. One of the things the student needed to work on is digital literacy. I asked if they would be up for a trade where I teach them for free, including reading their essays, and providing academic feedback, if they would be open to trading their labour. Gratefully for both of us, this was a win-win solution! Since then, I’ve been devising ways that I can increase my income so I can get the student a true living wage—which their trade of labour will be directly linked to.

4. Staying True to Decolonial Values: In navigating social media, it's essential to me to remain aligned with decolonial principles. To me, this means rejecting exploitative practices, promoting inclusivity, and ensuring that my business practices uplift and respect marginalised communities. Ultimately, I just need to be able to keep a roof over my head, my kin fed, and the house warm. I do not need more than that to be happy. Anything in excess of that is nice, sure. But what feels even kinder is when I can make sure that people like my student can make their ends meet—where they can wake up in the morning and not have to worry about where their next meal is coming. I’m only one person, and I cannot provide for the whole world. That’s dangerous saviour-complex territory. And, when you’re practicing decolonial praxis, you can very easily slippery slide your way into white saviourism even if you’re melanated (because we still inherited colonial trauma). While white saviourism is a set of beliefs created a perpetuated by non-melanated people, melanated people have still been living under a paradigm that consistently forces them to assimilate.

I can take on what is my responsibility with the skills that I have learned. Will I be perfect? No, I have been programmed under a capitalistic colonial hellscape. That doesn't mean, though, that I can run away from my responsibility of rising to the request the liberatory future makes of me. I’ll learn on the job, I’ll fall down and get my knees scraped. Maybe, I’ll take a moment, breathe, and stand up to keep moving forward again. It’s all a part of the process, and I’m not exempt from it.

5. Self-Care and Boundaries: Prioritising self-care and setting boundaries are still, so, so crucial. This includes taking breaks from social media when needed and not succumbing to the pressure of constant connectivity—something I technically excel in since my presence is not consistent. But, that doesn’t stop the guilt spiral, especially when my bills are coming through while I look at an empty bank account.

I am still in the process of learning what that might look like for me. If you engage with my work, and learn vicariously with me, then you’ll witness my journey in doing so.

Conclusion

Building a business on social media under capitalism is undeniably challenging and always at risk of subsumption, especially for multiply marginalised individuals. The demands for consistency and the fast-paced nature of these platforms are overwhelming. However, our engagement by (re)setting realistic goals, utilising tools, seeking support, and staying true to decolonial praxis, it might be possible to navigate these challenges such that we’re laying the foundations for the seventh generation to flourish, as the Haudenosaunee wisely hold steadfast to. Maybe by reaching more people today, the future children won’t need to because we’ll (re)live in a gift economy. The journey is not easy, but with nurturing and care, it can be both fulfilling and empowering.

With care,