Is Social Media Still Worth It for Businesses in the Age of Algorithms and Doomscrolling
A strange thing happens when an old platform comes back. It makes everyone ask whether the newer version of the web is actually better.
The relaunch of Myspace, positioned around the idea of bringing back social media that feels social again, lands at the right time. Many people miss an internet where following someone meant you would see them, profiles had personality, and feeds were shaped by friends rather than prediction engines.
For businesses, charities and local organisations, that nostalgia raises a serious question. If followers no longer guarantee reach, and people scroll so quickly they barely remember what they just saw, is social media still worth the effort?
The short answer is yes, but only if expectations change.
The Myspace comeback says something real about user fatigue
Myspace was never just a website. For many people, it was a personalised corner of the internet. Your profile, your music, your friends, your comments. It was messy, but it felt human.
That is why the relaunch story has gained attention. It taps into a wider frustration with modern platforms. Feeds now feel less like updates from people you chose and more like a stream of content selected by systems you cannot see.
This is not imagined. Meta explains that Facebook and Instagram use ranking systems to decide what content appears and in what order. TikTok’s For You feed is also built around recommendations based on signals such as watch time, engagement and user behaviour, according to TikTok’s own support materials.
That means the follower graph has weakened. Following still matters a bit, but it is no longer the main gatekeeper. The platforms increasingly ask a different question: is this piece of content likely to hold attention right now?
That shift has changed the job of social media for every organisation using it.
Following is weaker, but visibility still compounds
For a business or charity, the old promise was simple. Build followers, post updates, reach your audience.
Now, a page can have thousands of followers and still see posts reach only a fraction of them. At the same time, a small account can reach far beyond its audience if the content performs well with strangers.
That can feel unfair, but it also means social media is not purely a popularity contest. A West Midlands café, tradesperson, community group or charity can still be discovered by people who have never heard of them.
The problem is consistency. One post rarely changes anything. A scattered presence sends weak signals to both people and platforms.
Research from DataReportal’s Digital reports continues to show that social media remains one of the world’s most used online activities. In the UK, Ofcom’s Online Nation research also shows how deeply online platforms sit within daily media habits.
So the audience has not disappeared. The route to attention has changed.
Doomscrolling makes weak content vanish almost instantly
The hardest truth is that people are not calmly studying every post.
They are tired. They are distracted. They scroll while waiting for the kettle, sitting on the bus, watching television, or avoiding another task. The feeling that someone may only remember the last thing they saw is not far from the truth in practical terms.
Attention researcher Gloria Mark has written widely about how frequently people switch attention when using screens. Her work, discussed by the American Psychological Association, points to a digital environment where attention is fragmented and recovery takes effort.
For businesses, this means social media cannot rely on people remembering one clever post from last Tuesday.
It needs to do three things:
Show up often enough to become familiar
Look clear enough to be recognised quickly
Say something simple enough to land in a few seconds
That is not a case for posting more noise. It is a case for better repetition. The strongest social media presence is often made of small, steady reminders.
A charity showing impact. A local business sharing proof of work. A team posting opening times, testimonials, behind-the-scenes moments, community links and useful updates.
None of those posts needs to “go viral” to be useful.
Social media is still useful when it has the right job
The mistake is treating social media as a complete business strategy.
It is not.
Social media is best used as a visibility and trust channel. It helps people notice you, understand what you do, see that you are active, and feel more confident taking the next step.
For charities, this can mean staying visible to donors, volunteers, service users and local partners. For local businesses, it can mean looking current when someone checks Instagram before calling, visiting or recommending you.
This matters because many people do not make decisions from a single post. They build a picture over time. A quiet account with outdated posts can create doubt. A consistent account creates reassurance.
That is where professional support can make a real difference.
What a sensible social media package looks like now
The current social media environment rewards two things that many busy organisations struggle to maintain: consistency and genuine engagement.
That is why our support is built around those needs, rather than unrealistic promises of instant reach.
For charities, Social Media Visibility starts from £90 per month, usually £150 per month. It is designed to keep a charity present and professional without the team having to manage everything themselves.
It includes:
10 custom-branded static posts
Professionally written captions
A monthly content calendar for approval
Fully managed posting
For charities that also want audience growth, Social Media Growth is available from £150 per month, usually £250 per month. A dedicated growth manager follows, likes and comments with targeted accounts in the charity’s niche to help grow TikTok and Instagram with relevant followers.
It includes progress meetings, monthly growth reports and engagement with up to 40 accounts per month. There are no subscriptions or contracts.
For local businesses in Birmingham and across the West Midlands, the Social Media Visibility and Growth package is available for £300 per month. It is built for organisations that want to stay visible, look professional and grow a relevant audience without trying to beat the algorithm alone.
The conclusion is not nostalgic, it is practical
Myspace’s return is interesting because it reminds people what social media used to feel like. But businesses cannot build strategy on nostalgia.
The modern feed is algorithmic, crowded and fast. Followers matter less than they used to. Attention is limited. A single post is easy to forget.
Still, social media remains relevant because people still use it to discover, check and judge organisations. The role has changed from guaranteed broadcast to repeated visibility.
The winners will not be the loudest accounts. They will be the ones that show up clearly, consistently and with enough human presence to be remembered after the scroll.
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