Running an Online Business in November 2023
Or, posting on social media as a small business while a child is killed on average every 10 minutes in the Gaza Strip
If you’ve been following this newsletter since I moved over to Substack, you will have seen that I signed off social media earlier this year. I am looking after my baby full time and I decided that I’d rather spend the small windows of time that I have available to work, on this newsletter, keeping up with fertility research, and working on my fertility cookbook.
I have loved not being on social media, both personally and professionally. It gave me time and focus.
But then the Israeli Army started carpet bombing Gaza and killing thousands of civilians, half of whom are children, and I couldn’t look away, couldn’t not use my tiny platform to scream CEASEFIRE into the void. (Ceasefire, of course, meaning for both sides, including hostages being returned and those unlawfully detained being released.) And so every day now I find myself back online and somewhat strangely thankful for the existence of these platforms where we can follow Palestinian journalists, re-post the stories they ask us to keep sharing and post links to email our representatives who have the power to actually stop this.
Don’t get me wrong I know that there is hate spreading like wildfire on these platforms too. The Islamaphobia and anti-semitism online is beyond awful. And of course, posting on social media is never enough, not even close.*
All this to say, here I am, back on social media and wondering how to be a person and business online in November 2023.
It is jarring scrolling my feed which switches between posts of death and destruction, everyday consumerism and fertility. I know businesses and influencers still need to make money and social media is an important tool for that. But it’s weird right?
It’s extremely weird to pretend that everything is normal and to keep just posting normal content.
It’s weird to share a post about a hospital being bombed and then post a link to booking a nutrition consultation or ‘5 foods high in zinc for egg health’.
And it’s also weird not not share anything to do with your business and just share posts about the genocide in Palestine… on your fertility nutrition account (which tbh is what I’ve been doing for the last few weeks.)
I don’t have any answers on how to negotiate the balance here. I have been surprised by how few of my fertility, dietetics, and other healthcare colleagues have spoken up.
I know sometimes it doesn’t feel like posting will have any impact and you know what? Maybe it won’t. But maybe one person will see your post and email their MP, maybe they will join a protest or maybe it will make them feel like they can post themselves… Then maybe that will lead to someone else educating themselves on the history, or signing a petition, writing to their union/university/professional body etc to call for a ceasefire...
I have to believe that we are not helpless, particularly if we work together and when so many people spend so much time on social media, I do believe we should all be using the platforms we have in any way we can. It doesn’t feel right to me to stay quiet or to continue business as usual, so I won’t.
I also know the heartbreak of pregnancy loss and struggles to conceive and that those feelings don’t go away no matter what is happening in the world. You can have empathy for those in Gaza, be calling for an end to the genocide, AND also be struggling yourself. Two things are true.
You’re here or following me on Instagram because you want my help trying to conceive and I want to help you. So I’ll be sharing some fertility nutrition on my socials too, even if it’s just the links to my newsletters for now. Newsletters will stay (mostly) fertility nutrition focused.
*Social media is obviously the tip of the iceberg so I’m sharing some resources today too, links to petitions, email templates etc. Most of these actions only take a few minutes to do.
For Healthcare Professionals:
Dietitians - this is a letter you can sign against collective starvation in Gaza so far signed by over 1000 dietitians
This is the letter I sent to Dietitians Australia, feel free to copy, paste and send it too
Eating Disorder Care Providers - this is an incredibly well-researched statement of solidarity with Palestine by Eating Disorder Care Providers that you can sign
Australian Healthcare Workers petition for Ceasefire sign here
Australians:
Sign the parliamentary petition to Call for a Ceasefire and an End to Israeli Occupation
Use this APAN link to email to all your Federal representatives (local MP and Senators), the Foreign Minister and the Greens spokesperson for Foreign Affairs. You can only use this link once but if you’ve already emailed, go to the copy in your inbox (search ‘do gooder’ the platform used to send the email) and you’ll find all the email addresses so you can send another email. Keep emailing.
You can also email the PM here or the Victorian premier here if you’re a Victorian. If you don’t know what to say, copy and paste the text from the APAN link.
US:
Use this link to find and email your reps
Sign this petition
UK:
Use this link to find and email your reps
Everyone:
Sign the Oxfam petition and Amnesty International petition
Buy an e-sim for someone in Gaza to give access to communication, read more here (this Reel shows how you can buy a Nomad one in literally 2 minutes)
There are many Palestinian journalists who continue to risk their lives to share what is happening on the ground, this list is a good place to start
This address by Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territory to the National Press Club of Australia is a great place to learn more about what’s happening and how it breaches international law
I’m not sharing links to organisations to donate money to today as those in Gaza have repeatedly said it’s useless right now as aid isn’t getting in. There will be a time for that after a ceasefire.
I’ve shared Australian, US and UK links as that’s where the majority of my followers are from. Also because I am an Australian and so have found these resources for myself and because I believe Americans and Brits most need to pressure their governments after both abstained from calling for a ceasefire in the UN last week.
Feel free to comment with other links to petitions or actions we can take.
Love Ami x
Ps. I am not an expert in this field or any kind of advocacy stuff, I have spent time educating myself from reputable organisations but it’s all a learning curve. I’m sure some of the language is clunky. This is me trying, with the hope it might help a tiny bit.