Social Media Disillusionment: Why I Chose to Build Beyond the Algorithm | Lita Goddess of Growth
Experiencing social media disillusionment? Lita Goddess of Growth shares her journey from chasing algorithmic reach to building authentic community through podcasts and owned platforms. Find your way back to genuine connection.
Breaking Free: My Social Media Disillusionment
The seductive promise of social media—build your brand, expand your reach, connect with an international audience—often masks a more complicated reality. After years of dedicated platform engagement, I’ve come to understand the profound disconnect between social media’s marketed potential and its actual impact on genuine business growth. This is my story of social media disillusionment and the conscious pivot towards sovereign building.
When I first joined TikTok, I envisioned it as a gateway to new audiences for my coaching practice and product offerings. Instead, I discovered my content consistently funnelled to viewers in countries where my UK-specific services weren’t relevant. Despite investing countless hours in livestreams, content creation, and community engagement, the algorithmic segregation of users into demographic “hubs” prevented the very connections I sought to establish. I was building a following, but not a community; I was generating content, but not authentic connection.
The Empty Metric: When 1000 Followers Equals Zero
Most striking was my realisation upon leaving the platform: of the thousand followers I’d accumulated, there wasn’t a single one I genuinely missed. Those who became true friends had already exchanged contact details outside the app, highlighting the profound difference between platform metrics and authentic relationships.
This experience crystallises a crucial truth: a number on a screen is not an asset you own. It is a metric you are renting. This explains why micro-influencers often generate more meaningful engagement than accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers—they’ve cultivated genuine connection beyond algorithm-driven interactions. Their value is rooted in trust, not in a volatile follower count. This is the core of social media disillusionment—the realisation that you have been tending a garden on someone else’s land, and you cannot take the harvest with you.
The Mirage of Monetisation
The monetisation story proves equally sobering. While we occasionally hear about creators earning tens of thousands from viral content, the reality for most involves minimal returns despite significant time investments. The platform’s structure encourages a constant churn of content, rewarding consistency over depth and virality over value. I met fellow UK creators who appeared successful, with polished content and engaged comments, only to learn in private conversations that they were making modest amounts after extended periods of consistent effort. Many were trapped in a cycle of creating free content in the hope that it would eventually lead to a sustainable income, a hope that for most remains a mirage.
This system creates what I call algorithmic anxiety—the constant, low-grade stress of wondering if your next post will be seen, if the rules have changed, or if your primary source of visibility will be taken away. It’s an exhausting way to build a business.
The Pivot to Ownership: Building a Sovereign Network
Having stepped away from traditional social platforms, I’m now focused on building connection through more direct channels. This podcast is one of them—a space where conversations can be deep and meandering, reaching listeners across the globe organically, without being forced into a demographic box by an algorithm.
The other channel is the development of a sovereign community. This is a dedicated space, a membership website where people can share skills through peer-to-peer coaching, collaborate on projects, and build relationships without algorithmic interference. It’s a space where the value is determined by the members, not by a platform’s engagement metrics. This is the antidote to social media disillusionment: taking back control.
In this space, which I am building within the Sovren Collective, the goal isn’t virality. The goal is collaborative growth. It’s about building a network where your success amplifies mine, and vice versa. It’s a slower, more intentional path, but it leads to a foundation made of solid ground, not shifting sand.
Your Journey Beyond Disillusionment
My story is not unique. Many of you reading this will have felt the same friction—the nagging sense that your effort isn’t yielding the results you were promised. The feeling that you are shouting into a void that only occasionally echoes back.
If this resonates, I encourage you to ask yourself:
- How much of my energy is spent trying to please an algorithm versus serving my actual audience?
- Do I own the relationship with my followers, or does the platform?
- What could I build if I redirected that energy into an asset I control?
Breaking free from social media disillusionment isn’t about abandoning online connection. It’s about redefining it. It’s about choosing to build a home for your community, rather than renting a room in a crowded, noisy, and unpredictable hostel.
Share your own social media experience in the comments section on here or on the Empowerment Diaries®️ podcast. Let’s talk about the reality behind the highlight reel and support each other in building something more sustainable.
✨ If you’re ready to explore building beyond the algorithm, learn more about the community we’re creating in the [Sovren Collective].
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