Dear gentle reader,

Social Media are slowly but surely turning into something VERY unsocial.

In my 16+ years of marketing, watching social media evolve up close, I’ve grown increasingly fed up (you’ll get the joke in a minute) with the never-ending and unpredictable algorithm changes, shrinking organic reach, and relentless push for ad revenue.

Adding insult to the injury; the recent Trump administration tech-oligarchy favoritism did anything BUT help with the sorry state of social.

And as bleak as it might seem, it’s actually a good thing. VERY objectively a bad thing for the current version of social media, but a good thing for the future of social media.

And since after the super-turbulent and news-heavy start of the year there’s no notable social media news over the past week or so, except maybe for Buffer’s report on best times to post Linkedin and a report on social media marketers outlook on industry for 2025…

…I’d like to dedicate this and future episodes to a thing called “The Social Web” and why I believe it’s the positive future of social media.

Let me explain 👇

My name’s Mark Valasik, I help businesses master early-stage marketing and build authority through social media and you’re reading the 26th edition of my Marketing Right Side Up newsletter.

The Social Web, Episode 1: Big Social Has You at Gunpoint

If you haven’t noticed, social media is on fire. Not in the fun, viral way—more like a slow-motion car crash where the driver (let’s call it the ‘Big Social’) is steering with one hand while chugging a Big Gulp (joke attempt) of political influence with the other. And we, the users and creators, are strapped in with no seatbelts. And the car is on fire. And we are on fire. And everything is on fire.

The State of Social Media: A Hostage Situation

Let’s not sugarcoat it: The platforms we rely on are bending over backwards to kiss the ring of political power. The recent TikTok ban-but-not-really drama showed us how quickly decisions about entire industries can shift overnight, depending on which billionaires are in which room. And with Trump back in office, we’re watching tech giants scramble to stay on his good side. The result? Social media is no longer about connecting people—it’s about who controls the conversation.

Meanwhile, AI agents are creeping in, and they’re not here to help you go viral. Mark Zuckerberg’s leaked memo confirms what we all suspected: AI agents will be most probably running the show soon, feeding you posts, auto-generating engagement, and possibly even creating content indistinguishable from human creators. We’re looking at a future where you’re not competing with other humans anymore—you’re up against the algorithm itself.

Social media as we know it? It’s on its last legs. Even more media and even less social.

The Problem with Algorithm Media

The algorithmic chokehold isn’t just squeezing creators—it’s shaping the entire internet. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X have one goal: maximize ad revenue. And the way to do that is simple:

📉 Shrink organic reach so brands and creators have to pay for visibility.
🔄 Prioritize engagement over substance, rewarding clickbait, outrage, and controversy.
🛑 Keep users inside their walled gardens—because the longer you stay, the more ads they can shove in your face.

This isn’t an accident. It’s the business model. And it’s why you feel exhausted, disillusioned, and trapped.

So, what’s the alternative? Do we just quit social media and go back to writing emo blogs on Tumblr?

Well… kinda. But also, no.

Enter: The Fediverse

Let’s talk about the Fediverse, the federated universe of social platforms that is quietly offering a way out of this mess. Instead of one company (Meta, X, TikTok, etc.) owning and controlling everything, the Fediverse is decentralized, ad-free, and community-run. It works like email: you can pick your provider (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo), but you can still communicate with everyone else. Hence the name “the social web”. Imagine a world where:

🚀 You post on one platform, but it appears across multiple networks.
🤝 All the comments, likes, reshares, followers are connected across all your profiles.
📢 There’s no algorithm deciding what you see—your timeline is chronological.
💬 Moderation is handled by communities, not by profit-driven corporations.

Sounds too good to be true? It’s not. Platforms like Mastodon (Twitter alternative), PixelFed (Instagram alternative), and PeerTube (YouTube alternative) already exist. They’re open-source, drama-free, and prioritize actual social interactions over corporate interests.

But before we get too excited, let’s get one thing straight: Threads and BlueSky (which now reportedly has over 30 million users)? 

They’re flirting with the Fediverse, but they’re not quite part of it. They use decentralization as a buzzword while still keeping one foot firmly in Big Tech’s playbook. While BlueSky might seem attractive, especially compared to Elon’s X and Meta’s Threads over the recent political shenanigans, let’s not forget that BlueSky was created by Jack Dorsey, the original creator of Twitter, who’s still Elon’s investor to this day. Point still stands, that while BlueSky (nor Threads) is not a part of Fediverse.

It’s a whole deeper topic on what makes Fediverse-Fediverse (hint: it’s an open-source protocol called ActivityPub), how it communicates with services like Wordpress or other initially non-social platforms and why it’s really more WEB than SOCIAL, so stay tuned for next week’s episode!

A complex topic, but an important one, especially for the future of social interactions online, content creation and welp, even social media marketing as a field.

Because if current social media continues down this path, it’s going to be an absolute trainwreck. AI-generated content, pay-to-play visibility, and algorithmically engineered engagement loops will drive people to exhaustion. When everything is optimized for ad dollars and no longer for human connection, users will start looking for something different—something real.

That’s where the Fediverse comes in. A network where users and creators aren’t just fighting an algorithm but actually engaging with communities. And if we’re smart, we’ll start preparing for that shift now. Because as social media marketers, I believe it’s upon us to start the shift.

What’s Next: How It All Works

Next week’s episode, we’re doing a deep dive into ActivityPub vs. AT Protocol vs. Threads, breaking down exactly how the Fediverse functions and why it’s fundamentally different from what you’re used to. If you’ve ever wondered how social media could work without corporate overlords pulling the strings, you won’t want to miss it. Also, if you want to know, what to do to get competitive advantage in this new social web, make sure to subscribe

The social web is here. The question is: Are you ready to leave Big Social behind?

Until next week, stay safe.

Cheers,

Mark.