Hello!
Many of you will have seen recently that I have been doing a work/health balance audit; a month ago I deliberately stepped back from long-running M.E. work projects, projects that have been very brick wall-like and relentless in impacting my energy, and exited some collaborative NHS-related work groups (unpaid) to free up some time and energy to concentrate on my own projects. In recent weeks, I have turned my attention to ME Foggy Dog’s online presence; specifically, our social media output. There are multiple reasons why but my conclusion is that something needs to urgently change before the impact on my health (the risk has been growing for a while) significantly ramps up. As of October 2025, I was managing (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Bluesky, Linkedin (company page), and 3 months ago TikTok recent joined our collective of ‘socials’), seven different social media channels. It has become unmanageable. The reasons why I have been doing this are laid out below.
For almost eight years, I’ve held steady around 10,000 followers across all socials. That sounds great, right? A huge community! Except when you look at the reality, it’s mostly an illusion. I’ve been quietly deleting long-time inactive and bot follower accounts for ages, and the truth is, the consistent, frequent engagement comes from the same amazing 500 people who have been algorithm-selected to see my content. You know who you are, and you’re the reason I love this community. However, it no longer makes sense for my status quo to continue. Spending vast amounts of energy generating unique content for so many different channels, channels that already have limited engagement, is a massive waste of precious energy. My current system of ‘content distribution’ is neuro-exhausting. I kept adding channels to ensure reach, but every single platform demands a different format, differences in content character length, a vertical video for Instagram, a short clip for X, a long post for Facebook, a professionally worded summary for LinkedIn. The need to reformat and maintain seven separate presences is utterly exhausting, and it has a terrible energy ROI for someone managing a chronic illness. It’s an endless, multi-format treadmill that drains energy I simply don’t have. This is the moment I finally listen to my own body and my own advice where social media output is concerned. I have concluded the answer isn’t to work harder; it’s to work smarter and less.
If there’s one piece of advice I always give, it’s this: Put your energy and health first, sound advice I wasn’t following myself. ‘Do as I say, don’t do what I do’ is no more.
Spending hours creating content just to reach a very small, already loyal core group across a dozen different channels is nonsensical. In M.E terms, the energy ROI is close to zero. It’s a lot of work for an effect I could achieve with a single, simple email (remember that bit, I get back to that further down!).
Truthfully, I’ve fallen out of love with social media. Not with the community, but with the platforms themselves. What once felt like a vibrant, connected space has become fragmented and noisy. This is the part that makes me genuinely sad. I deeply miss the vibrant, connected online M.E. community we had between 2014 and 2020. Back then, it felt like a home,; a place to share, learn, and support without having to fight an algorithm just to see each other’s posts. Now? We are scattered. The platforms have changed (not for the better in my opinion), the noise has increased, we can no longer find each other easily, and that sense of cohesive community is long gone.
Long time Foggy Followers will know ME Foggy Dog started out as a social media driven fundraiser ‘brand’. To do this, I paid for social media marketing training. I literally learned how to use Twitter (I hadn’t used Twitter personally and had no clue how to use it in 2014!) and how to use Facebook as a ‘business page’. I used the training services of Tarryn Hunt (thoroughly recommend!), a local self-employed social media marketing and business expert. This knowledge was immensely helpful when I launched ME Foggy Dog and I am thinking of doing similar again now. Twitter (now (but never) X) and Facebook have changed so much over the past 11 years, they would likely be unrecognisable if placed side by side in a lineup! In 2016, I also launched my own social media marketing company so I know I am fully capable of creating effective and impactful social media content. The problem in recent years has been limited time and energy to learn the latest algorithm and strategy changes of each platform or put the effort into creative posts. That will hopefully change now I am freeing up some time and energy. I want to be consistently good on 4 channels, not ‘ok’ on 7.
Audit conclusion: I’m making some serious cuts. Starting now, I am officially closing down ME Foggy Dog’s Bluesky and Instagram channels at the end of the week. Our TikTok page was shut down two days ago. Thank you to all who have followed ME Foggy Dog on those channels, your support has helped shape our work and I will always be grateful.
This isn’t an easy decision, but it’s 100% necessary. I’m focusing on my health, and frankly, my health budget no longer covers chasing algorithms and our M.E. community across multiple platforms as part of a much wider workload.
The very best, most reliable way to stay in the loop, the place where you’ll get the news directly without the algorithm deciding if you’re worthy, is to sign up for our newsletter. It’s simple, low-energy, and it’s the most direct line of communication we have. Our newsletters haven’t been overly regular until now because it felt like an extension of mass duplication and poor use of my limited energy. However, reduced social media channels means this becomes a good alternative. I figure virtually everyone has at least one email address and if you support ME Foggy Dog and want to keep up to date with our latest news, why wouldn’t you sign up FOR FREE?! The plan right now is to put out fortnightly newsletters that summarise our work activities and important updates. Stay in the loop! Sign up in our footer.
This isn’t about disappearing; it’s about shifting my focus so I can keep showing up in a meaningful, sustainable way. Thank you, as always, for your understanding and continued support!
Sally
and Foggy (OBVIOUSLY!)