It is more than likely that I joined Twitter (now X) long before you did. The same could be said for most other social media platforms as well.

There was a time when I genuinely believed social media was the future.

I no longer believe that.

Much of social media, particularly X, has devolved into nothing more than an unhinged cesspool. For the most part, I quit posting on these platforms years ago. It has been just as long since I sat and mindlessly scrolled a feed.

In fact, the only platform I regularly use is YouTube. There, I can search for exactly what I want to watch, and I almost never touch Shorts, meaning I avoid the doom-scrolling pit entirely.

“Wait a minute. You just posted about that morning anchor’s TikTok dance video, and that cringey post from the weekend sports guy. You MUST be on social media, Mr. FTVLive!”

Yes and no.

I only visit these platforms when a tip specifically points me there. When people see a story on FTVLive calling out a ridiculous post or an embarrassing viral video, many assume I spent my afternoon scouring feeds to dig it up.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Virtually every social media story featured on FTVLive was sent directly to our inbox by another television journalist, and often, several of them.

FTVLive’s inbox gets flooded daily with links from industry insiders flagging behavior they believe is unprofessional, inappropriate, or just plain embarrassing to the craft. If a link arrives from just one person, we usually ignore it. But when multiple journalists from the same market, or across the country, send the exact same link, we take a look to see if it warrants coverage.

So, the next time your social media post ends up featured on FTVLive, know this: we didn’t go looking for you.

Your colleagues saw it. Your competition saw it. And they felt strongly enough to pass it along.

You can rage at FTVLive all day long for calling out your latest stunt. That’s fine. Pushback comes with the territory, and we have thick skin. But don't flatter yourself by thinking we're sitting around tracking your personal account.

If you made the page, it's because people in your own business thought you crossed the line, and they made sure we saw it.

Just some food for thought.