WHERE SOCIAL MEDIA BECAME ABOUT COMMUNITY AGAIN

THERE is something slightly paradoxical about an event called Beyond the Feed being held in a world where most of us spend so much of our time staring at one.

We scroll. We like. We comment. We save. We compare. We watch other people’s businesses grow, other people’s lives unfold, other people’s perfectly edited versions of reality.

And then we put our phones down and sometimes realize we don’t actually know anyone.

That is what made Beyond the Feed feel different.

Held at The Bell Inn in Durban on 1 August 2026 and hosted by Nikki Haneef and Abi Downs, Beyond the Feed was created as a space for creators to step away from the online world, connect in real life, and learn from the people behind the scenes. The event brought together creators for honest and meaningful conversations around branding, business, contracts, UGC, consistency, confidence, mental health, and the realities of building something online.

But honestly, I think the most valuable thing that happened in that room had very little to do with social media.

It was community.

IT DIDN’T FEEL LIKE A COMPETITION

One of the things I loved most about the day was that it didn’t feel pretentious.

There wasn’t this sense of walking into a room and having to prove how many followers you had, which brands you’d worked with, or whether you were “big enough” to be there.

You could just be there.

And that sounds simple, but in an industry that can make numbers feel like everything, it was refreshing.

The whole premise of Beyond the Feed was that there is room for everyone. Whether you have 500 followers or 500,000, you deserve access to education, networking and community. Nikki and Abi have spoken openly about wanting to create something that wasn’t intimidating or exclusive, and about believing that collaboration is more powerful than competition.

That really came through.

THE PART WE DON’T SEE ONLINE

Social media is very good at showing us the finished product.

We see the campaign.

We see the beautiful photograph.

We see the brand partnership.

We see the launch.

We see the success.

What we don’t always see are the unanswered emails, the rejection, the uncertainty around pricing, the contracts you don’t understand, the pressure to constantly create, the comparison, the burnout and the self-doubt.

That was one of the things Beyond the Feed did particularly well.

It didn’t pretend that being a creator is just pretty pictures and gifted products.

There were conversations about the business side of creating, including contracts, usage rights, taxes, brand strategy and UGC, as well as the mental health side of constantly showing up online.

And I think that honesty was important.

Because sometimes the advice you need isn’t “post more”.

Sometimes it’s knowing your worth.

Knowing what you’re signing.

Knowing when to say no.

Knowing how to protect your peace.

And knowing that you aren’t the only person figuring it out as you go.

SOMETIMES YOU JUST NEED TO MEET YOUR PEOPLE

There were conversations happening everywhere.

People who had never met before were talking, sharing ideas, exchanging details and finding common ground.

Maybe someone found a future collaborator.

Maybe someone found a friend.

Maybe someone finally had a conversation with another person who understood exactly what they had been struggling with.

That is the thing about meeting people in real life.

A DM can start a conversation, but sitting across from someone can create a connection.

And in a world where we are increasingly connected digitally, there is something really special about being able to look someone in the eye and say, “I get it.”

YOU DON’T HAVE TO HAVE IT ALL FIGURED OUT

I think that was probably my biggest takeaway from the day.

You don’t have to have the perfect niche.

You don’t need the biggest following.

You don’t need to know exactly where your business will be five years from now.

You don’t even need to feel completely confident yet.

You just need to be willing to learn, to show up and to keep going.

There will always be another trend.

Another Reel.

Another algorithm change.

Another thing we’re told we need to be doing.

But opportunities to sit in a room with people who are also building, learning and figuring things out are much harder to come by.

BEYOND THE FEED

Beyond the Feed wasn’t just about getting better at social media.

It was about remembering that there are actual people behind the usernames.

People with ideas.

People with businesses.

People with doubts.

People with stories.

People who are trying.

And maybe that is what we need a little more of.

Less comparison.

More collaboration.

Less pretending we have it all together.

More honest conversations.

Less trying to beat the algorithm.

More building something meaningful.

I left Beyond the Feed feeling encouraged, but more than that, I felt reminded that there is space for all of us.

You don’t have to compete for someone else’s place.

You can build your own.

And sometimes, the best thing you can do for your business isn’t another post.

Sometimes, it’s stepping into a room full of people who just get it. People who understand the creativity, the pressure, the ideas, the wins and the uncertainty that come with building something online.

It’s sharing what you’ve learnt, hearing someone else’s perspective, making a new connection and realising that behind every screen is a person figuring it out too.

Because the digital world may be where we create, but community is where we grow.

And that, to me, is what it really means to go beyond the feed.