Last March, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn all went down for hours.
Millions of businesses watched helplessly as their entire marketing infrastructure vanished. No warning. No control.
For a few hours, the digital economy stopped.
If you felt that panic, you already know the truth — you don’t own your audience. You’re renting it. And the landlord just doubled the rent.
The Great Algorithm Heist
Over the past few years, social media platforms have quietly rewritten the rules of engagement. While businesses were busy posting, promoting, and scheduling, the algorithms were pulling the rug from underneath them.
Here’s what happened:
Facebook’s organic reach fell to between 2 and 6%.
Instagram averages just 4 to 7%.
TikTok’s engagement rate, once the golden child of organic reach, slipped to 2.5%.
LinkedIn performs slightly better, around 6%, but still far from its early promise.
If you have 10,000 followers, only a few hundred will ever see what you share — unless you pay.
This isn’t a glitch. It’s the business model.