In this episode of Marketing Rebels: Breaking Business Barriers, we dive into the dark side of social media growth and addiction and uncover actionable insights for navigating digital marketing ethically.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why followers became "social currency" (MySpace origin) and a proxy for popularity.

• Algorithms prioritize engagement over truth, making "beating the algorithm" impossible.

• Social media uses video game design (infinite scroll) to capture attention and deliver dopamine hits.

• Understanding the lucrative "gray area" of digital growth involving TOS violation and automation.

  
  

Episode Highlights:

Introduction: This episode addresses the undesirability of being chained to social media.

Main Point #1: Vanity metrics evolved as platforms merged personal/business users.

Main Point #2: The algorithm is a complex set of instructions tuned for engagement.

Main Point #3: Social media is highly addictive, drawing from video game concepts.

Real-Life Example: Tim's operation, Shark Social, used systems that left kind, automated comments on Instagram (the "most kind form of spam") to generate millions of followers through reciprocity.

About the Guest:

Tim O'Hearn - is a software engineer who works in quantitative finance. He is also an entrepreneur and freelance writer. 

As a sports journalist, he covered the 2024 World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. As a prolific creator of user-generated content, he has written hundreds of book reviews and thousands of other entries such as restaurant reviews, product reviews, blog posts, and comments-section polemics.

Email

tjohearn.com

timohearn.beehiiv.com

LinkedIn

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DW2X8YSK

Key Quotes from the Episode:

• “The issue is that it's largely not [true]. It's just an aggregation and it's not tuned as much for truth as much as it is tuned for engagement.”

• “If a platform owner... can claim bot activity as real active users, investors will be really happy with that.”

Recommended Resources from Shauna:

• AirTable to help you plan, create, organize & outsource your content marketing. Click⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠here ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to create free account

• KAJABI as an all-in-one resource to help you manage & market your business. Click⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for free 14-day trial

• DUBSADO to streamline client management, contracts, and invoices all in one place. Click⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for free trial

• FlowChat to simplify and automate your lead generation directly from social platforms. Click⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to explore

• Restream to easily broadcast live across multiple platforms and expand your reach. Click⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to start streaming

• Fathom to easily record your calls, take notes and share with guests. Click⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to start recording

About Shauna Van Mourik:

Shauna helps ambitious Women Coaches and Therapists build authentic, sustainable Six-Figure businesses through powerful brand identity, organic growth strategies, and streamlined content marketing.

GET CLIENTS: Dive into Shauna’s upcoming training, bonus resources & opportunities: https://www.shaunaleigh.com/connect-with-shauna 

Note: This description contains affiliate links. If you choose to use these links, it helps support this channel, though there’s no obligation to do so. Thank you for your support!

Don’t forget to:

1. Subscribe to Marketing Rebels: Breaking Business Barriers on Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite podcast platform.

2. Leave a review to help us reach more changemakers like you!

3. Share this episode with someone who needs it.