Quality or Quantity: What’s your social media objective?
I find riding a motorbike can be meditative. Admittedly, it’s not always the case, especially when the road rage demon starts to share his opinions on the asshole that just broke a red light, but when it’s on … it’s really on and I get in a zone. Then I’m at one with machine, in control of horse power and fully aware of everything. Yet at the same time I’m somehow detached … like it’s not me at all.
I was in that zone again this morning.
That sounds kind of crazy I know. But when I’m feeling like that I’m one with the one. I am the road. I am the wind. I am the tiny contact patch where rubber molecules stick with asphalt. I am the succulent smell of Frangipani. I am the fresh water bubbling through electric green rice fields. I am the sun on the back of my neck and arms. I am the child holding his grandfather’s leather-calloused hand that catches my eye and smiles; he knows something I’ve forgotten.
I wasn’t just mindful of these things, I was these things. I was everything … and yet … I was nothing.
Time seemed to change with this insight, or at least when I became consciously aware of it, and I began to see these ‘moments’ everywhere. Like in slow motion. Like I was Neo discovering The Matrix. Life was full of moments and I truly felt the power of being in the now. Everything was a miracle to behold and I began to understand a bigger picture, albeit briefly.
But I have to admit I find it hard to hold on to those moments of lucidity. Believe me I’m trying. I’m trying to be more consciously aware and in doing so I’m finding I’m more appreciative of each moment for what it is, not what I think it should be and not necessarily what I want it to be.
And because of that, that precious moment holds much greater meaning.
I came across something interesting recently that suggested the average human now has an attention span of just 9-seconds. That’s around the same as a goldfish! Maybe it’s less. Think about that for a second. No more than a second mind you because you won’t have time to check how well your latest social post is performing. But think about it. Done? Good.
9-seconds! The reason for this lack of attention, we’re told, is technology and our utter addiction to all things digital. I don’t necessarily think it’s technology’s fault, but more connected to the choices we make with the incredible things we have created. Irrelevant information overload does nothing to help us grow. We have chosen to be distracted and bombarded by insignificance and goldfish shit to such a degree we can only manage to focus on the reflection of ourselves aimlessly bumping into the walls of the damn fish tank.
In a world motivated and obsessed by sound bites, fake news, violence, warmongers, corruption, lies and materialism we tend to ignore the truth, even when it’s in plain sight. Yet, the truth surrounds us. And the signs are everywhere if we only take the time to open our hearts and see.
We seem to enjoy distracting ourselves with lots of noise, meaningless work, pointless connections, phony followers and ways to avoid the spam we churn out. And because of that we sadly miss what’s important.
Our days are full but inside we remain empty.
I’m not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m also not so distracted by numbers, not so impressed with quantity. Not so impressed with ripping along at a hundred miles an hour any more. I’m much more interested in experiencing the quality of the moment. The quality of the people I meet. The quality of thought and expression. The quality of a good old-fashioned conversation.
Maybe you’re reading this on a social media platform if I’m lucky enough to have had an influencer share it with millions of ‘friends’ … maybe you’ve accidentally found me on Medium because it’s trending. Maybe not. It doesn’t really matter so much how you got to read this, what’s important to me is that you’ve gotten this far and it’s taken a damn sight longer than 9-seconds to get here. I’m much more interested in engaging with you than how many views or likes or shares I get.
I’m more interested in creating and nurturing relationships that have meaning than simply adding numbers to a list that’s always growing and never long enough. I’m much more interested in sharing, learning and growing and I believe we can all do that and we can do that better when we’re conscious of something as simple as ‘now’.
Not everyone I work with or talk to agrees with me on this. For some it’s all a numbers game and we get in to discussions about conversion rates and sales funnels. The more numbers you start with the more numbers you finish with right? It makes sense; after all I used to preach the same sermon until quite recently.
But this bike riding meditation gig I’m on right now is very gently telling me ‘no.’ It’s not like that for me anymore. It’s not about the numbers … it’s much more about engaging. It’s not just about popularity … it’s more about being authentic.
For me, that’s what social media is all about. Authenticity. I engage with people, posts and positions that resonate with me. I share moments of wisdom and insight that trigger an emotional response. I make comments I hope will uplift and trigger similar responses. That’s why I’m on Facebook and LinkedIn. That’s why I reach out. That’s what I think social media should be about.
If you take more than 9-seconds to think about what your social media objectives are all about you might be surprised with what you discover.
Andy writes on a variety of topics related to spirituality, property, real estate, the customer experience, mindset training and local/international trends for Seven Stones Indonesia. You can read some of his blogs here: http://www.sevenstonesindonesia.com/blog/ and about his first novel here: http://www.andybarski.com
Seven Stones Indonesia is a property company headquartered in Bali, Indonesia, with a mission to help people who are interested in buying and selling residential and commercial real estate.
If you’re thinking about property, ROI, capital gains or lifestyle investments in Bali, Jakarta, Surabaya, and Indonesian’s Eastern Islands and need some friendly advice and guidance then why not email hello@sevenstonesindonesia.com or check out Seven Stones Website | Seven Stones LinkedIn | Seven Stones Facebook
