Social media: A chronicle from Thobbe Englund

I’ve been away from social media for a little while. At least for me it is already working a bit healing in the way that I’ve got more time and focus for all the little things that otherwise would be left aside or put on hold. Whether we like it or not life is a matter of prioritizing between what’s of more or less importance, and what little things now are being accomplished I believe is of greater importance for me and my family than eye-balling a mobile telephone.

Last week I released a new single, titled “I Odens Namn”. I decided not to pay for any advertising on social media just to state an example, if not for the gigantic platforms (who don’t give a shit about small artists like me) so at least for myself. I’ve basically only payed for ads in the past concerning merch like t-shirts and CDs, therefore all the views on YouTube and other streams are coming to a 100% from fans in my case.

Since I am finally free from the record label-squids I am now my own man. It might be insanely stupid not to pay to be seen or heard, especially since the algorithms on social media detects the fact that I am putting out a commercial product in the form of a song, and therefore Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, and what not, will immediately switch on the kill-filter, which basically means that when I post a status about the new song it will only be seen by a very few, unless I pay. And I get it. They want money, we all do.

Social media is wonderful in many ways, so don’t get me wrong. It has tied our world closer together. I have come into contact with fans from all over the world, my old school buddies, fellow musicians and people I’ve met on the road and in every corner of the world.
However, I believe it is important to fill your life with the most important positive things, and the key word here is “positive”.

Facebook and the likes has in my opinion lately become a source of polarization, which I don’t think is positive at all. I could sense the winds long before the US election and decided to bug out before it got to the point of becoming a negative energy in my life. I think it was wise.

From now on, at least at this moment in time, I will only occasionally visit social media, mainly to post news about the band and my music. Maybe we could all need to scale down on social media for a while? It’s absolutely doable.

Take care out there, and check out “I Odens Namn”, the brand new single!
Yours sincerely
Thobbe.