Social Reject

Megan Espinal
  • 5.0 (4)
  • Entrepreneurship

If you're looking for AI and social media marketing tips, this podcast will sorely disappoint you.  Social Reject is the only show on the airwaves (that we know of) where we're having critical conversations about what it means to be a woman whose business or personal life depends on systems built by and for tech bros. If you're feeling The Ick about social media & AI–whether you have a business, want to start a business, or you're just a girl, reading a podcast description, begging it not to use the word "girlboss,"–welcome. You can absolutely sit with us.  Hosted by Megan Espinal, marketing strategist, former journalist, and the founder and CEO of Social Reject, Megan helps women entrepreneurs protect themselves and their companies from Big Tech.  Through solo episodes and candid conversations with female founders, and experts in psychology, cybersecurity, law, and tech, we'll talk about what it's like to build a business without social media, what happens when you build on Big Tech and decide to walk away, and what can go wrong when you stake your business on platforms and tools you don't own. 

Episodes

  1. 2d ago

    Meta pumps the breaks, and how to protect your business from AI scraping

    Part 2 on Meta's greedy new terms of use, including an update on the deadline, your questions about whether paying for ads or Meta subscriptions would spare you the scrape, what you can do to try to protect your content from AI scraping, regardless of who's reaching into your cookie jar, and what tricks–if any–you could pull to fool Meta. I admire your moxy, but this is one place you probably can't fight fire with fire.

  2. Oct 28

    Have a Business account with Meta? You may want to rethink that before NOV. 20

    Meta's f*ckery knows no bounds. In case you missed it, Meta recently updated their Terms of Service with language that would give them carte blanche to access any URL tied to your business account and use it however they see fit–without paying you for it. That's your website, your podcast content, your sales pages, and pretty much any URL that you've linked to or shared from your business profile. You have until Nov. 20, 2026 to stop using Meta products if you're not cool with letting multi-billion dollar tech companies steal your expertise, IP, and product positioning without paying you any AI licensing fees. It's more than just news sites that'll be impacted. More than 200 million businesses use Meta platforms to reach new customers and maintain relationships with existing customers. And shit like this is exactly why that needs to change.  Here's the original reporting from Nieman Labs.  Visit www.socialreject.co or email me at meganespinal@socialreject.co to see how I can help you move your business, community, and marketing plans elsewhere.

  3. Oct 26

    Risky Business: How common social media posts can actually make you unsafe with Susan Boles

    Every time I hear someone tell a woman to post something like a walk-and-talk to fill her posting calendar and help promote her business, I get low-key mad. Okay, I shake with fury, because what most women aren't told is that content like that can actually compromise our physical safety in the real world given the wrong person and the wrong motivations, and we're not just talking about stalkers.  In this episode, I talk with Susan Boles, the founder of Unpublic and the Parasocial Paradox podcast, to finally haul this discussion into the open so you know what you could be risking when you copy some of the most common, run-of-the-mill social media posts you see every day. Let's just say that just because it's preached from a stage, it doesn't make it safe to practice.   About the guest: Susan Boles is the founder of Unpublic, where she helps creators stay visible on purpose without becoming findable by the wrong people. She comes at this from both sides: a career in military security and business operations, and her own seat behind the mic as host of The Parasocial Paradox, a show about the risks and realities of being visible online. She's thought harder about what you're exposing when you hit publish than just about anyone. Take Susan's Creator Risk Profile Quiz.   Want more from me and Social Reject?  Visit www.socialreject.co/subscribe to sign up for my emails, including The Rejection Letter, my newsletter where I keep you up-to-date on the latest evil doings of AI and social media companies, share non-social, non-AI marketing tips. It’s the antidote to all the social media hype you’re drowning in every week.  The music for this episode is "Do It Again" feat. Lilla My. Composed by: Mondays. Licensed via: Epidemic Sound

  4. Oct 15

    What I really mean when I say I'm not using AI at Social Reject

    In my last solo episode, I told you I wasn't using AI at Social Reject. Turns out, the downside to having a future lawyer as your spouse is that he listens to your solo and says "Technically...that's not true." And ugh, he's technically right. In this episode, I'm clearing the air and clarifying what I mean when I say I'm not using AI. I promise I didn't lie to you, I just wasn't specific enough not to get lawyered by my husband.

  5. Sep 23

    The adults are not alright: how social media and smartphones effect grown ups, too (with Maris Doran)

    Unless you've been living under a rock the last few years (and really, who could blame you), you know that everyone's very concerned about the risks social media poses to children: low self-esteem and anxiety, poor reading scores, exposure to content about eating disorders, drug use, and sexual exploitation–and those are just the biggest ones. But what you're not hearing much about is how social media negatively impacts adults, too. Whether you're using social media for fun or for your business, you're not immune to the same negative impacts of social media use. In this episode, I chat with licensed psychotherapist and mindfulness practitioner Maris Pasquale Doran about how social media and smartphones can become unhealthy coping mechanisms, what our distractedness can signal to kids, and how to regulate our nervous systems without reaching for the screen.    About Maris: Maris Pasquale Doran, LCSW, is a psychotherapist, midlife specialist, speaker, and co-author of the New York Times bestseller Piper Chen Sings. She brings 20 years of experience to her private psychotherapy practice, her program Midlife Mothers: Pause. Reset. Reclaim., and her work with individuals, organizations, and communities. Across all of her work, Maris shares a foundational methodology rooted in nervous system regulation. To learn more, visit marispd.com.   Want more from me and Social Reject?  Visit www.socialreject.co/subscribe to sign up for my emails, including The Rejection Letter, my newsletter where I keep you up-to-date on the latest evil doings of AI and social media companies, share non-social, non-AI marketing tips, and give you something better to do with your time than doomscrolling. It’s the antidote to all the social media hype you’re drowning in every week.    Music   Song title: "Do It Again" feat. Lilla My Composed by: Mondays Licensed via: Epidemic Sound

  6. Sep 23

    Social nightmare: How a hack can cost you big time (with Ali Prato)

    I know you’ve seen headlines like these: “I started a TikTok account with nothing and now I’m a millionaire” or “How I make six figures with Instagram Reels.” Positive press of social media success stories isn’t hard to come by, and it makes it seem like the smart marketing play that promises the fastest financial success is to build your business around social media. What you hear much less about are the women who followed that advice and lost big time. But it’s much more common than you'd think. In this episode, I talk to Ali Prato, journalist, author, and the host of the InfertileAF podcast, about what happened when her Instagram account got hacked, how it jeopardized her business, put her sponsorship deals at risk, and cost her years worth of personal memories.  About Ali Prato: Ali Prato is an award-winning journalist (Playboy, Health, Rolling Stone, Cosmopolitan, Teen Vogue, to name a few) and mama-of-two who went through secondary infertility, IUIs, IVF, depression, grief and relationship issues. As the host of the Infertile AF podcast, Ali helps families break the stigma around infertility. Her newest children’s book, Petri Dish Princess, is available for preorder at https://www.infertileafgroup.com/books. Want more from me and Social Reject?  Visit www.socialreject.co/subscribe to sign up for my emails, including The Rejection Letter, my newsletter where I keep you up-to-date on the latest evil doings of AI and social media companies, share non-social, non-AI marketing tips, and give you something better to do with your time than doomscrolling. It’s the antidote to all the social media hype you’re drowning in every week.    Music   Song title: "Do It Again" feat. Lilla My Composed by: Mondays Licensed via: Epidemic Sound

  7. Sep 22

    Welcome to the internet’s only anti-social media marketing podcast (that I know of)

    It’s finally here! In this, the first ever episode of the Social Reject podcast, I pull back the curtain on how I’m designing this show to be different from most of the podcast market these days, what you’ll find in future episodes, and why this show almost didn’t happen in the first place. It’s unpolished, I have no idea what I’m doing, and I can’t wait to make more mistakes as I go.    Music   Song title: "Do It Again" feat. Lilla My Composed by: Mondays Licensed via: Epidemic Sound Want more from me and Social Reject?  Visit www.socialreject.co/subscribe to sign up for my emails, including The Rejection Letter, my newsletter where I keep you up-to-date on the latest evil doings of AI and social media companies, share non-social, non-AI marketing tips, and give you something better to do with your time than doomscrolling. It’s the antidote to all the social media hype you’re drowning in every week.

  8. Jul 13

    Social Reject: A podcast about marketing your business without social media

    When Megan launched her own business in 2025, she made an unpopular choice: to build her brand without social media. Because after a career in digital marketing, she knew the hype around social media was riddled with holes. But nobody else was asking the same questions she was, or talking about how Big Tech puts women at risk. So she set out to challenge the narrative. Social Reject explores what it means to build a business that's visible, stable, and profitable without social media.   Music   Song title: "Do It Again" feat. Lilla My Composed by: Mondays Licensed via: Epidemic Sound

  • 1 Trailer
    7 Episodes

Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

If you're looking for AI and social media marketing tips, this podcast will sorely disappoint you.  Social Reject is the only show on the airwaves (that we know of) where we're having critical conversations about what it means to be a woman whose business or personal life depends on systems built by and for tech bros. If you're feeling The Ick about social media & AI–whether you have a business, want to start a business, or you're just a girl, reading a podcast description, begging it not to use the word "girlboss,"–welcome. You can absolutely sit with us.  Hosted by Megan Espinal, marketing strategist, former journalist, and the founder and CEO of Social Reject, Megan helps women entrepreneurs protect themselves and their companies from Big Tech.  Through solo episodes and candid conversations with female founders, and experts in psychology, cybersecurity, law, and tech, we'll talk about what it's like to build a business without social media, what happens when you build on Big Tech and decide to walk away, and what can go wrong when you stake your business on platforms and tools you don't own. 

Information

  • Creator
    Megan Espinal
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    8
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Social Reject

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