Estimated read time: 3 mins

If you’ve felt more tired than inspired by social lately, I feel you.

What I’m noticing isn’t who’s winning, it’s who’s straight up leaving or leveraging the distribution power through ads or having someone else manage the whole affair while they stay logged off. 

AI is a big part of this conversation. But it’s not the villain of the story. 

AI didn’t kill social, it simply exposed the underlying fragility of the whole affair.

It revealed how dependent social visibility already was on speed, sameness, polarization, glorification, and constant output… and how little of it actually compounded. 

Once you see that, the question stops being “should I use AI or not?”It becomes: how do I use it intelligently to support creating and distributing assets I actually own?

What you’ll learn in this article:

🍵💲AI but make it ✨ nuanced ✨

🍵💲The state of the social optional movement

The tea: red flags and false binaries

🚩🚩🚩🚩 “If you’re not using AI for everything, you’ll be obsolete in 6 months.”

🚩🚩🚩🚩 “AI is cheating and anyone who uses it has no soul.”

🚩🚩🚩🚩 “The only way to win now is to post more. Faster. Everywhere.”

I’ve noticed that the more polarized the AI conversation gets, the less useful it becomes.

There’s a false binary floating that you have to fit solidly in one camp: 

1. all-in on AI, automating everything, posting more than ever
   
2. morally opposed, clutching your pearls and your originality like a life raft
   

Neither is especially compelling.

Because the real divide I’m seeing isn’t AI vs no AI  it’s how AI is being used.

If you’re using AI to:

• keep up with the feed
  
• churn out more content
  
• match the pace of the internet

…it’s a losing game.

But if you’re using AI to:

• Streamline your thinking
  
• build owned assets
  
• create content with actual staying power

CHA-CHING. 

AI amplifies intention or exposes the lack of it.

If you’re trying to make sense of AI without losing your voice…

This is exactly why I said yes to speaking at my friend and past client Brenda’s AI for Business Summit.

It’s one of the few spaces I’ve seen that isn’t screaming AI EVERYTHING or AI IS EVIL — but actually exploring how smart business owners are using it intentionally.

If you’re feeling curious, conflicted, or a little skeptical, this is a great room to be in.

The problem isn’t AI, it’s the feed.

Social platforms aren’t built for depth, trust, or longevity. They’re built for SPEED. 

When AI gets pointed at the feed, it just turns the volume up.

Which helps explain why so many smart, capable people feel like they’re “doing everything right” and still ending the day feeling deep fried.

& this my friend is where social-optional businesses quietly pull ahead… 

✅ clearer priorities about where your energy goes
✅ deeper roots instead of constant surface-level output
✅ visibility you can build on, not babysit

It also means using AI where it genuinely shines — behind the scenes — to support things that last: email, long-form content, IP, systems. 

AI is at its best when it’s pointed at assets you own…not when it’s asked to help you keep pace with a feed you don’t even like.

Which brings me to the second door in this hallway.

Next week, I’m teaching a live training on the Anti-Social Visibility System — the approach I’ve developed to help chronically online business owners become known without being glued to their phone.

Grab a spot here if you’re done feeding the feed >>

Sip on this…  

🧋Pretty inspired by Sunny Lenarduzi’s story of quitting social and then growing her business to $4M/year 

🧋Troooooth. 

What’d you think of this issue of Spill the Tea?

• 🫶 Loved it. Sent me into a mild existential spiral (in a good way)
• 😐 Neutral… didn’t hate it, didn’t save it
• 🙄 Not my vibe