Social media is one of the most powerful tools to ever exist. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and the countless other sites and applications allow information to spread faster than ever before. Chances are you are reading this because you found it through one of my social media accounts. Bringing my thoughts to audiences would have required significantly more effort 20 years ago. Chances are I would have been hard pressed to find any readers without working for a larger organization or putting in substantial hours networking.
Social media is one of the most dangerous tools to ever exist. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and the countless other sites and applications are incredibly addictive and have tremendous power over our attention and emotions. Anxiety is common among social media users. Chances are if you’ve used social media you recognize the many negative consequences these platforms create and have even considered deleting your accounts because of those negative experiences and emotions.
Making Sense of Social Media
This blog is not a cautionary tale about social media. In truth, it is my struggle with these contradictions. Social media is both powerful and dangerous at the same time. This stark contrast is laid out in two of the books I’ve listened to recently. One made me realize I need to be on social media. The other made me realize I need to be intentional about my use of social media or risk consequences I would not be happy with in my life.
First, I want to share what I learned from Gary Vaynerchuk’s Crushing It!: How Great Entrepreneurs Build Their Business and Influence-and How You Can, Too. This book changed how I view social media. I believe any person who wants to be in business for themselves needs to read this book.
Social Media is the Only Marketing You’ll Ever Need
Crushing It! will show you how to use social media to gain a following and allow you to turn your passion into profit. It won’t be easy and it certainly will not come without a cost. Gary Vaynerchuk lives and breathes social media and he believes any business worth anything needs to as well. The cost is hours and hours of your time creating content and engaging with others online through social media. When I say hours, I mean hours-everyday. He proposes working from 7pm-2am every weeknight after your day job and implementing social media into every aspect of your life. If you are not working your day job or with your family, you should be on social media building your brand. His favorite word…hustle. His truth: If you produce great content and interact with others through social media in an authentic way, you will create the results you want. Are you overwhelmed? He’d say, “Get over it. Figure it out. Get a therapist!”
His book is filled with examples of people who did just that and are “crushing it!” They are making money and doing what they love. For many, it was as hard as he described. For others, things came together a little easier and a little more quickly. All of them exhibited the power social media has to allow people to create a career around doing what they love. The power lies in the ability to maximize the power of word-of-mouth and spread content faster than ever before in history.
Learning how to use social media and catering it to your industry or interest has the power to completely transform your life and business. Money doesn’t win the game either. Great content and authenticity do! Connect that with hours of clicking, commenting, and interacting and you could be a huge social media success and build a career doing what you love.
Vaynerchuk’s book focuses on only the positives of social media. It barely addresses the dangers and even dismisses some of them. Yet, it does give a focused and purposeful approach to using social media to accomplish amazing things.
Digital Minimalism: The Canary in the Coal Mine
In stark contrast to Crushing It!, Cal Newport’s Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World warns of the dangers of an unmonitored digital life and offers tools to regain control over the distraction of technology. He lays out the truth that social media developers design their apps and websites to create addiction and distraction to increase the amount of time you spend looking at your device. More time spent on an app means more money for the company. This is not accidental, but purposeful. He cites sources showing that along with the arrival of the smartphone and social media came a dramatic rise of anxiety and mental illness. The dangers are real and are taking its toll on society.
Digital Decluttering: Refocusing Your Digital Life
Newport’s first step to regaining control of your digital life is to do what he calls a digital decluttering. In short, it is a strategic 30 day detox from digital media.
What does this detox mean? Obviously, very few people can completely shut off their devices and ignore all electronics. It comes with costs that might not actually be beneficial in the long-term. Here are some basics that can be adjusted. He encourages following his tips for 1 month’s time to reset the brain and come back with greater purpose and focus for digital usage.
1. Eliminate any unnecessary social media usage. Delete apps from phones if needed. Turn off notifications.
2. Set appropriate boundaries around streaming. Many people decided to only watch television if it was with family or friends. Never alone.
3. Take internet browser applications off smartphones. Set a boundary that you will only research or read news on a laptop.
4. Only text when absolutely necessary. Communication for ride-shares or letting a family member know about time-sensitive information.
5. You know your habits better than anyone. Eliminate where you feel you need it.
None of these are hard and fast rules, but recognize that if you are going to do the detox, it does need to be somewhat extreme. That is often what is needed to make substantial progress with eliminating distraction from devices.
After 30 days or so, reflect on your digital life. What do you hope to accomplish with your social media accounts? Are there any that you feel you no longer need? How can you refocus on what your purpose is for using the platform? The goal here is to eliminate lost time and only use devices and digital media for things that you highly value. Eliminate or adjust so it better fits what you are hoping to accomplish.
My Focused Purpose for My Digital Life
As an example, I will work through how I use the different social media platforms and create a focused purpose for their use in my life. Since I know how powerful and impactful they can be, I cannot ignore them, but I do need to make them work for me.
Facebook: I use this mostly to disseminate information about my blog and my professional life. It allows me to share with people I know and care about what I’ve been up to and what I’ve been working on lately. About once a month, I might flip through and see what others are up to as well, but I try to avoid this regularly. I’ve seen what that does to my focus and I don’t want to go back to that stage in my life.
Twitter: I have a “secret” account that allows me to share my passion for Star Wars. I interact with others who love Star Wars and share my in-depth thoughts about topics that intrigue me. Currently, I only do this for an hour or so on the weekends. It serves as a needed outlet for my love of Star Wars.
YouTube: I subscribe to a few Star Wars and music related channels, but purposely keep it scarce. It serves as a great outlet for me to share my passion for singing and playing guitar through my regular videos.
For now, this is it. If I add something new, I want to make sure I have a very specific purpose for it. This will help me to keep control of my digital life instead of my digital life controlling me.
Conclusion
On the surface, these two authors are in direct conflict with each other. One calls for obsessive social media usage and the other warns against its addictive qualities. Yet, they agree on one very important note, your usage of social media is best when it is focused and purposeful. It’s hard to reconcile the conflicting viewpoints, but in the end I can only come to one conclusion: THEY’RE BOTH RIGHT!