You don’t have to look very long to find yet another article or post about the negativity of social media. Some will argue against the mounting evidence that it isn’t the platforms’ fault, it’s the users.’
With that said I won’t go into the often repeated detailed points regarding the ills. We know them and I’m prone to them. Here I’m asking another question: Am I doing social media wrong?
Roles
I consider myself a consumer of social media. Not by any addictive means, but I peruse some of my favorite accounts for fun on only a choice number of social media platforms (okay, only one platform). Some will say I’m a “lurker” or “trolling,” but I grew up in a time where we consumed products or services. This whole “we are the product” concept is something new and never really sank in.
I used to post many moons ago, but whenever I did I felt a little weird about it. I thought about the usefulness, reasoning, and legacy of what I was doing.
Will it be helpful to anyone or only to feed my ego? What was the real reasoning behind it? To get likes, views, or comments? Will I be proud of it in a year, five years, 10 years? Am I thinking too much into this?
Probably.
Social media, in my opinion, isn’t all that important to me. If people ask I just say I’m not all that good at it.
The content marketing monster
I’ve had my time as a freelance writer for some years. I wrote, edited, and collaborated in the writing world for many health and fitness platforms. Social media was a big part of getting my work out to the masses. I even created my own site to syndicate my writing and create my own original content. I had a Facebook Page, Twitter account, and LinkedIn profile to distribute all my work.
Once the well ran dry with freelancing (that’s another story) I no longer posted my work as often. I only updated my own work from my own blog. After more time passed posting my work to social lost its luster and effectiveness. On top of that the fitness game changed. People were reading less and watching more. Audiences didn’t want to read a post they wanted to watch a video.
I get it. Things change.
Since I was using social media only for utility my use of it diminished and now it’s pretty much nonexistent.
Now we are here
I’ve tried to use it for personal use, but I truly feel like that ship has sailed. Algorithms have changed, content marketing is a wormhole of frustrating commercialism, and I have less and less tolerance for it.
I like the idea of having a blog, but I just don’t want to occupy my time maintaining social sites day after day, hour after hour. I admit I would check it too much for likes, comments, and shares. My stress levels would most-certainly rise and I would find myself in the tangled web of a world I don’t want to live in. Not to mention it would take precious time away from creating on my terms.
The blog community serves me better and gives me peace of mind while expressing my creative desire. It’s a more close-knit community of similar-minded individuals without the 50 car pile-up.
Am I doing social media wrong? Probably.
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What do you think about your use of social media?
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Brad Borland 
Oh boy. I’ve struggled with how to do social media since I first joined Facebook in 2009.
I’ve deleted and restarted accounts multiple times.
It has changed over the years and so have I. I’ve learned some boundaries on when, where, and how to share. But of course I’ll never do it perfectly. What I’ve noticed over the years is how ephemeral and trivial most social media is. It’s kind of forgettable really, so I don’t worry too much about it anymore.
I try to also be mindful that since it is online, it is not private, it’s public. But I won’t get into the whole privacy/security topic here.
Anyways, good thoughts. I’m right there with you.
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Yes! Since social media has been around for a while now I think everyone’s perspective has changed about it. It’s definitely ephemeral. I used to use it for syndicating my freelance work, but even that has fallen flat regarding use as a marketing tool for us little guys. It’s either ads, rants, or arguments these days. My use is nearly nonexistent at this point. If you set aside the spike in use due to the quarantine, use has been declining sharply in the last couple of years.
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Oooooffffff – Social Media. Myspace was the OG when it came to that. Then we moved onto Facebook. For my own personal use, I am okay with Facebook. I don’t have a Facebook page for my blog, but I do have an Instagram for my blog. Honestly – I am terrible at it. I don’t keep up very well, and don’t post as often as I should. I have very mixed emotions when it comes to social media.
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Yes, mixed emotions indeed. I used to promote my freelance writing on social years ago, but it just felt like I was tooting my own horn all the time. I’ve never really gotten into social for personal use. I’m just not motivated at all to do that.
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