Rethinking Social Media

Rethinking Social Media

From What Works by Tara McMullin

May 28, 2026 · 15 min

About this episode

Tara McMullin reflects on the changing landscape of social media and her thoughts on re-engaging with it.

"No matter how hard you post or what sites you do it in it’s never going to be 2019 again." — Amanda Mull on Bluesky I'm thinking about getting back on social media. Weird, I know. But (1) I have a distribution problem, and (2) it's not what it used to be... which is bad, but maybe also good for me? Today, I'm putting my thoughts into words and relying on a new essay by communications scholar danah boyd to make sense of why getting back on platforms feels vaguely appealing. Footnotes: Read the essay version of this post. " Social Media Is Now Parasocial Media " by danah boyd in Social Media + Society ★ Support this podcast ★

People in this episode

Host: Tara McMullin

Topics covered

  • social media
  • communication
  • distribution
  • platforms
  • society

Keywords

  • social media
  • distribution problem
  • danah boyd
  • Bluesky
  • parasocial media

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Social Media Is Now Parasocial Media

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