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# 🔗 CLICK THRU 010 : May 2025
- URL: https://offthegrid.ghost.io/click-thru-010-may-2025/
- Published: 2025-05-19T20:36:25.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-15T21:34:42.000Z
- Description: We don't need more metrics or AI "innovations"
- Author: Amelia Hruby, PhD
- Tags: Newsletter, CLICKTHRU, #Migrated-1784129708849, #Import 2026-07-15 10:39

#### Welcome to our social-media-free-online-biz-and-marketing links digest AKA the CLICK THRU!

This month’s round-up is free for everyone, as I celebrate our recent milestone of reaching 1000 subscribers & 100 paying members. 🎉

As always, this is a choose-your-own-adventure endeavor. So you’re invited to dip your toe in one link at a time, dive into the deep end and open them all at once, or just hang out in the splash zone of the comments and see what surfaces there.

Please remember that I don’t necessarily know the folks who create the things I link to, and I definitely don’t endorse every single thing that every single person I mention writes, says, or shares.

But before we get to today’s links, I want to share a new class I’m teaching that was inspired by the [**May Biz Forecast**](https://offthegrid.ghost.io/may-biz-forecast/)! ⤵️

## How to Run Your Creative Business During a Recession (or any slow time)

**A 90-minute class + community brainstorm for calming our minds, simplifying our expenses + reimagining our offerings as we navigate challenging times in small business**

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/44/9a/449ad1a5-0f88-4b95-8768-72c8a12a4ca1/content/images/2026/07/be5aee16-c5cc-43e4-8788-6ff673019cb4_1504x870-1.png)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/44/9a/449ad1a5-0f88-4b95-8768-72c8a12a4ca1/content/images/2026/07/ebc35986-ad81-435a-8f17-285ac704714a_1452x714.png)

#### This class is now available for all paid supporters in the Clubhouse [right here](https://offthegrid.ghost.io/how-to-run-your-creative-business/) 💖

#### 

[🏄‍♀️ HOW TO: Run Your Creative Business During the Summer Slump (or Any Slow Time)Let’s calm your mind, simplify your expenses + reimagine your offerings![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/44/9a/449ad1a5-0f88-4b95-8768-72c8a12a4ca1/content/images/icon/clubhouse-2-ccffc57e-ca1f-488c-a0c1-82e5a85a2184.png)Off the Grid ClubhouseAmelia Hruby, PhD![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/44/9a/449ad1a5-0f88-4b95-8768-72c8a12a4ca1/content/images/thumbnail/https-3a-2f-2fsubstack-video-s3-amazonaws-com-2fvideo_upload-2fpost-2f198507006-2fd6b19d16-2151-4240-8024-83186ed4b458-2ftranscoded-00001-png-dc39418e-48ab-4fa7-9846-e15dca93df6e.jpg)](https://offthegrid.ghost.io/how-to-run-your-creative-business/)

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OK on to our tenth CLICK THRU + I’ll see you in the comments!

🔗 🔗 🔗 🔗 🔗 🔗 🔗 🔗 🔗 🔗 🔗 🔗 🔗 🔗 🔗 🔗

# WHAT’S UP WITH SOCIAL MEDIA & BIG TECH

♻️ This month Spotify announced they’re [**launching play counts on podcasts**](https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/06/spotify-now-shows-how-many-times-people-listened-to-podcast-episodes/?utm%5Fsource=substack&utm%5Fmedium=email) (and then [**sort of rolled it back**](https://creators.spotify.com/resources/news/plays-on-spotify?utm%5Fsource=podnews.net&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=podnews.net:2025-05-16)). But that announcement led me down a rabbit hole on the history of Spotify which took me to [**this NYT piece from 2011**](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/14/technology/spotify-music-streaming-service-comes-to-us.html?ref=offthegrid.ghost.io). Wow how times have changed.

🧃 Thanks to a court injunction, [**Apple now has to allow external purchases**](https://www.theverge.com/news/660025/apple-changes-app-store-rules-to-allow-external-purchases?utm%5Fsource=podnews.net&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=podnews.net:2025-05-05)! Great news for all of us! Now here’s to hoping their appeal fails.

💭 I haven’t seen reporting on this since last fall, but is anyone else worried about [**OpenAI’s transcription hallucinations**](https://apnews.com/article/ai-artificial-intelligence-health-business-90020cdf5fa16c79ca2e5b6c4c9bbb14?utm%5Fsource=substack&utm%5Fmedium=email)?

🛍️ Also on the topic of AI: [**you’ll soon be able to shop inside ChatGPT**](https://www.wired.com/story/openai-adds-shopping-to-chatgpt/?ref=offthegrid.ghost.io).

🤖 And once more on the topic of AI, [**I just do not want this.**](https://www.theverge.com/news/664812/google-honor-ai-image-to-video-gemini?ref=offthegrid.ghost.io)

🎬 [**Even Netflix wants to be social media now!**](https://www.theverge.com/news/662408/netflix-tiktok-feed-vertical-video-mobile-app?utm%5Fsource=substack&utm%5Fmedium=email)

🤔 2025 has me revisiting this essay from Defector: [**Is It Possible To Create Anticapitalist Work On Social Media?**](https://defector.com/is-it-possible-to-create-anticapitalist-work-on-social-media?ref=offthegrid.ghost.io)

💔 I love seeing nuanced takes on breaking up with Amazon [**like this one**](https://sadiehartmann.substack.com/p/why-i-am-boycotting-amazon-but-not). *(If you also love seeing things like this,* [***you’ll love last week’s Off the Grid episode***](https://offthegrid.fun/shownotes?ref=offthegrid.ghost.io)*!)*

[Why I Am Boycotting Amazon but NOT Kindle UnlimitedReal quick, I need to set some early expectations for this post. It’s 6 AM on a Monday morning and I had s…![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/44/9a/449ad1a5-0f88-4b95-8768-72c8a12a4ca1/content/images/2026/07/30124aba-95d8-4bf7-bd11-c62b72c2e8ba_500x500.png)Mother Horror Updates](https://sadiehartmann.substack.com/p/why-i-am-boycotting-amazon-but-not)

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# ONLINE BIZ & CONTENT CREATION

🎧 An evergreen read from Simone Seol on [**how to create content without adding to the noise**](https://blog.simonegraceseol.com/are-you-just-adding-to-the-noise/?ref=offthegrid.ghost.io).

📋 May I offer you this list of [**100 things you can do on your personal website**](https://jamesg.blog/2024/02/19/personal-website-ideas?ref=offthegrid.ghost.io)?

📝 And maybe you want to [**start a blog this year**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcXqSy1yEWo&ref=offthegrid.ghost.io) like [Lex Roman](https://open.substack.com/users/6066214)?

🥶 ICYMI — a popular Substacker recently encountered a glitch that deleted her emails, archive, and entire subscriber list. [**Learn more about what happened & how to avoid this fate for yourself.**](https://open.substack.com/pub/danusiamalinaderben/p/the-substack-safety-kit-made-after?r=1lw1xl&utm%5Fcampaign=post&utm%5Fmedium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false)*(h/t to* [*Stephanie Graham (she/her) 🪩*](https://open.substack.com/users/251741643) *for this link)*

[The Substack Safety Kit (Made After Watching a Friend’s Substack Vanish)This kit wasn’t born out of curiosity. It was born in the wreckage.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/44/9a/449ad1a5-0f88-4b95-8768-72c8a12a4ca1/content/images/2026/07/e7faaea7-de02-4d19-94a4-698751307421_256x256.png)Parents Who Think](https://danusiamalinaderben.substack.com/p/the-substack-safety-kit-made-after)

🧲 My friend [Taylor Elyse Morrison](https://open.substack.com/users/102096703) has me thinking about [**magnetism**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5TgIsn4bQw&ref=offthegrid.ghost.io) this year.

🎙️ She also inspired me to record a new FREE class for Softer Sounds: [**5 Ways to Make Your Podcast More Magnetic**](https://amelia.myflodesk.com/magnetic-podcast-masterclass?ref=offthegrid.ghost.io)!

🧑‍🍳 OK [**this isn’t about online biz**](https://open.substack.com/pub/cheferichuang/p/so-you-want-to-open-a-restaurant?r=1lw1xl&utm%5Fcampaign=post&utm%5Fmedium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false), but reading it made me wonder how anyone ever opens an IRL biz. *(h/t* [*Caro Griffin*](https://open.substack.com/users/337905176) *for the link)*

[So You Want to Open a RestaurantWhen I embarked upon my quest to become a chef there was really only one respectable option. You had to own your own restaurant.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/44/9a/449ad1a5-0f88-4b95-8768-72c8a12a4ca1/content/images/2026/07/4acef2c5-5362-43c9-86cf-06452747c2ed_431x431.png)A Chef At Last](https://cheferichuang.substack.com/p/so-you-want-to-open-a-restaurant)

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# And finally…

# BABES LEAVING SOCIAL MEDIA

You know I absolutely *love* to see more and more folks interrogating social media, and of course I bookmark it every time I clock it. This section is where I share those pieces for boosts of encouragement to make changes you might be desiring.

[I'm Leaving Instagram TodayHello dear ones,![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/44/9a/449ad1a5-0f88-4b95-8768-72c8a12a4ca1/content/images/2026/07/df71fae2-5f26-41ec-8ac6-019ce7212ffc_256x256.png)CARESCAPES](https://carescapes.substack.com/p/im-leaving-instagram-today)

[The buzzy candle brand that quit Instagram and never looked backA year ago, I wrote my most popular Substack essay yet about the pressure to be online to stay relevant. Whether you’re a brand, a niche creator, or just a mom with a private account, the demand to stay visible truly never lets up.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/44/9a/449ad1a5-0f88-4b95-8768-72c8a12a4ca1/content/images/2026/07/eb1cb941-999e-4f36-9c86-eba137f72efc_500x500.png)Offline Time](https://leetilghman.substack.com/p/the-buzzy-candle-brand-that-quit)

.

#### OK that’s it for CLICK THRU 010, my friends!

#### I can’t wait to see you in the comments. xoxo, Amelia

[Leave a comment](#ghost-comments-root)

#### P.S. Last week I was also the first guest on [Becky Mollenkamp](https://open.substack.com/users/2988916)’s new podcast [Assigned Reading](https://share.transistor.fm/s/5d104a54?ref=offthegrid.ghost.io)!

We discussed the essay “Abolition Can Mend Our Democracy” by Angela Y. Davis, and together we explored:

- What carceral logic is (and how it shows up in everything from schools to diet culture)
- My personal journey with abolition, including becoming a prison pen pal
- The roles of somatics, spirituality, and forgiveness in imagining something better

#### Listen and subscribe on [Apple](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/abolition-can-mend-democracy-discussing-angela-davis/id1810821726?i=1000708160407&ref=offthegrid.ghost.io), [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/7FHJEVesIF8eJ2EH331R7u?si=f046356a57474dce&ref=offthegrid.ghost.io) & [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGkZqHk51SU&ref=offthegrid.ghost.io) 🎧