The Burnout Rebellion
The Burnout Rebellion Podcast
Soulful Social Media: Building community without chasing algorithms and burning out with Nicola Washington
0:00
Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -1:18:52
-1:18:52

Soulful Social Media: Building community without chasing algorithms and burning out with Nicola Washington

S1 E6

We cannot get away from the fact that if we have ideas that we want to share with the world, social media forms a huge part of us building a community by showing who we are and what it is we have to share. But can we make social media work for us? Can we make it soulful? Can it be values and community driven?

believes this is possible.

Nicola uses a great phrase in our chat today where she says we often feel as if we are chained to the social media ecosystem. As if social media runs us and not the other way round. Social media can be overwhelming on any day of the week, but particularly when you feel as if your business or book relies on it. We can get burn out chasing the algorithm. But what if we can be aligned and not algorithmic? Nicola is here to show us how it’s done. We discuss the myths around social media, engagement, boundaries, and what it means to deeply connect in a world that values disconnection. Having revisited this conversation as my own work shifts and changes, it’s made me realise that these wise words are ones you will keep coming back to over and over again. Enjoy this fabulous conversation with Nicola. You’ll be reimagining your social media usage within minutes.

Bio

Nicola lives in South London with her husband, two children, and a socially-awkward whippet, and works as an Instagram Strategist and Educator for writers and authors.

She became a Social Media Manager in 2017 after a twelve-year-long career as a secondary-school English teacher. After retraining she worked freelance with a range of small business clients, helping them get noticed online, until the start of 2023 when she started working with writers and authors, teaching them how to use Instagram to find more readers.

Nicola chose to make this pivot because she wanted to bring her work closer to her interests as she's always been an avid reader, and for the last few years has been developing her own writing practice, including working on her own fiction project that she is almost ready to query with agents.

Nicola's approach to Instagram has always been community-first and she will die on the hill that writers should not be trying to make sales on Instagram; your job is to make connections.

Links

Substack

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toomuch_social/

Details about the membership: https://www.toomuchsocial.com/membership

Website: https://www.toomuchsocial.com/

Examples of authors instagram’s to check out; Katherine May, Clover Stroud, Susan Cahill and Dr Emma Svanberg

Free Masterclass: Write your own Instagram Manifesto

Too Much by Nicola Washington
FREE Workshop: Write Your Own Instagram Manifesto
Despite its many, MANY well-documented failings, Instagram remains one of the best routes for writers and authors to get in front of your potential readers (caveat: IF you know how to use it strategically and effectively, rather than casually, which is an important distinction…
Listen now

The book Nicola mentions: The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World

I am so looking forward to seeing how this changes your relationship with social media. This felt like a much needed conversation .

Next week we are joined by

, a writer who has written prolifically across many outlets, and is currently querying publishers with her memoir on being a bad cancer mum. Her daughter Carolyn was diagnosed with leukaemia at 8 years old. We talk about burn out in the context of life shattering and life-threatening diagnoses and dig deep into the depths of how life changes us. Elizabeth is such a wonderful human being; I’m really looking forward to you listening to our conversation.

Much love,

Anna xx

Discussion about this episode