I think about the “cold start” problem a lot when posting something online. I get stuck on what to post/promote constantly, which is totally absurd because I work for a social media product company!!!

Joking. Figuring out what to say online is hard. Social platforms are daunting. I don’t plan posts out very robustly, presumably like most people; I’m often anxious about it and then suddenly I have an idea and I impulsively post it and it’s very occasionally a banger with 40,000+ views (thanks to passionate Severance & Charlie Brown fans).

I’ve had to think a lot about this at work lately. I’ve come to realize it’s so much easier to find inspiration for a post beyond forcing them. And I’m not convinced AI is the (only) answer here.

What’s worked quite well for me instead of over-relying on AI:

• Literally just spending time on the social network I want to post on. Seeing what people post, thinking about whether I have something substantive to contribute based on what I see.
• Interacting with the community. Often if I have a reaction to someone else’s post that’s more than just a “lol totally”, it could justify a whole other post shared with my own audience about that topic.
• Simple prompts. My coworker @Tamilore Oladipo has this wonderful list of prompting questions that she uses to run Buffer’s Creator Camp; other lists of interesting prompting questions are all over the internet if you search.
• The silliest observations in everyday life. There doesn’t need to be a profound statement there; just a silly random observation is actually quite relatable and will likely get engagement.
• Not worrying too much. Not every post needs to be wonderfully crafted, deeply catchy, or a gut-punch, or a hilarious banger. It doesn’t need to even be good. I have been so surprised by what absolute garbage has caught on.