Being in marketing creates an interesting paradox.
Social media is a valuable professional tool for brands – even in B2B! – but more and more I’m really despising social media in my personal life. There is plenty of evidence that we’re being spoon-fed poison every time we sign in: documentaries describing the dangers of social media, journalism shining a light on its systematic addiction and seeing our country rip apart one algorithm at a time.
So, does that make me a hypocrite?
Knowing the dangers of social media, is it wrong for me to use it professionally?
No, I don’t think so.
Well, I don’t know.
There is unquestionable good on social media. It can be a valuable source of information, laughter and a wonderful way to waste time while you’re in line.
But the seedy side of social media makes me glad I work in B2B – where social media is more about providing relevant information. We aren’t telling engineers they aren’t pretty enough or persuading operations managers their crush would like them if they just bought this undergarment that lifts and tightens.
That’s a saving grace of B2B social media: we aren’t preying on impressionable young people.
Those poor young people who don’t know they’re being manipulated!
It’s funny, though, that we shake our heads and fists at social media making addicts out of younger people, but we fail to see the addiction in ourselves. There have been countless times I’ve closed Twitter, opened a new tab, thought about where I should go, only to instinctually go to Twitter again. Same thing with Reddit. And Instagram.
Wait, am I addicted too?
More and more, I realized that social media was taking up too much of my time – essentially, social media was doing what it was designed to do. I wasn’t getting joy out of it. I was doing it instinctually and to get rid of that FOMO feeling, like smoking a cigarette just to satisfy the craving instead of actually enjoying the experience.
That’s why I’ve made some changes:
If Facebook figuratively burned to the ground Hindenburg-style, I would be so happy.
I used to love Facebook. Loved it. Having left home after college, it was such a good way to keep up with friends and family. And I would post all my humorous non-sequiturs and then repeatedly check all day to see how many likes I got.
“Hmm, that one clearly went over people’s heads. Otherwise I’d be getting so many likes. Let me delete that one and post another one.”
But over time, it turned unpleasant and numbing. The same few people dominated my feed about stuff I didn’t care about. But I kept signing in – like somebody mindlessly pulling the slot machine not even realizing whether they’re winning or losing.
I deleted my Facebook a few years back (but created a work-related burner account) and I can’t recommend it enough.
As a news junkie, Twitter is my social media heroin.
But in the past few years, I would read the comment section of polarizing articles and get mad – EVEN THOUGH I KNEW THEY WERE PROBABLY FAKE ACCOUNTS! I just couldn’t help myself.
“America8203821, who joined Twitter in December 2021, is so stupid!!”
So, I deleted the app off my phone and signed off my mobile account. That way, I can only check Twitter when I’m on the computer.
Being a little less informed (from politics and sports to who is getting canceled next) has definitely been worth the tradeoff.
“Oh yeah,” I have found myself realizing. “Twitter isn’t real life.”
Same deal as Twitter: I deleted the app off my phone and will log off every time I visit the site. That way I have to physically put in my information if I want to see photos from people I don’t necessarily care that much about.
Despite its foundation being a buncha pretty pictures, there’s also harm absorbing Instagram as reality. Posts from influencers (and even our friends and loved ones) are obviously painstakingly framed to show how faux wonderful their lives are – even their sad, “humanizing” moments are carefully orchestrated to pander to a base that wants to be just like them.
I used to check Instagram constantly. So much so, that I deleted my Instagram for an entire year in 2018. Maybe that year-long cleanse did some good. Personally, I post less and less nowadays. Checking Instagram now is for news about the small town I live in and what beers my favorite local breweries are releasing.
Like I said, there’s some value in social media.
No social media channel is perfect.
What LinkedIn lacks in toxic comment sections and Keeping Up with the Joneses glamour shots, it makes up for in engagment-pandering posts – “Personally, I think employers should treat employees with RESPECT! Like if you agree” – from wannabe life coaches.
The fact that I find these posts repulsive may be more of a comment on my jaded cynicism, to be honest. I also wish LinkedIn acted less suit-and-tie, we’re-talkin’-business-here! and more like a business-centric cocktail hour.
Tik Tok
Yeah, I’m too old for that nonsense.
copyhound 
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