Social media has made everything harder for journalists

Social media apps like X (Formerly Twitter) and Instagram, believe it or not, are still beneficial in many ways -- outside of providing many of us the "social interaction" we need throughout the day that we might not get enough of otherwise.

These apps also used to be great for reaching out to potential interview sources, especially smaller accounts or creators who didn't have websites or PR to reach out to first. Not that long ago, you could follow an account to have access to their Direct Messages (if they had them open) and you could start a conversation that way.

Now apps like Twitter and Instagram have changed the way accounts interact in DMs. And I often can't reach the people I used to. Flashback to the most embarrassing tweet I've ever sent asking a literary agent to follow me so we could connect for a podcast (he did). I'm a freelance journalist. Most of the projects I work on don't make very much money. I couldn't afford to pay for account verification even if I wanted to.

Because that's your ticket to reaching the accounts you want to reach now. Trying to DM accounts that don't follow me on Instagram is a nightmare. Either messages go into the Requests tab abyss or I'm forced to start a "chat" that dissuades my potential sources even further from responding, because what does that even mean?

So much of content creation has become a pay to play ordeal. Those who are privileged enough to be able to pay for advanced features and algorithm favorability may have more opportunities in online spaces than those who aren't. It's not about creativity anymore -- it's about who can get ahead with their dollars.

Social media is supposed to be an asset available to everyone. Not a privilege available only to those who pay to win.