Climbing out from the social media rabbit hole

How I’m scaling back my social media consumption.

My time is limited. My interests are wide. When paired together, these two do not mix well when it comes to social media. To me social media is analogous to a large discount store, where you go in for one or two things and come out spending a lot more than you expected on things you didn't intend.

Facebook is a great example. In the beginning it was something cool, a site where I could catch up with old friends, keep tabs on things or people, and get as much information about my “likes” as I wanted. Now the interest and excitement has run it’s course. My Facebook news feed has become so filtered that only a few people get through. My Facebook page is merely a virtual placeholder that represents my interests and reflects aspects of my life that I want to share with the world. Facebook is no longer a “must-have,” in the sense I cannot live without it, but more a “should-have,” kind of like a virtual calling card, on the off chance someone might be looking for me.

For the most part, I have tailored my social media input to feed me the information I desire: Twitter for news and events, Flipboard for all my interests, and Medium for interesting reads. My social media output is limited to Twitter and Tumblr, with one feeding the other, which then pushes my content out to the world. Essentially, I've tried to streamline my social media consumption and contributions to the fewest streams possible.

In scaling back my social media usage, I realized something else — the value of face-to-face conversation, or at least voice-to-voice. I've found I pick up the phone more to talk to people, or try and visit just to catch-up. Yes, I could follow news feeds, but it really isn't a substitute for true interaction and the depth it brings to our original social network — conversation.

For me, the point is this — there is no substitute for real social interaction. I remember reading an article that cited a study (link in sidebar) where it stated Facebook actually undermines the well-being associated with social connections. To some extent, I agree that consuming social media in place of real social interaction can be deleterious to an individual. However, I do feel Facebook (as well as other social media) holds a valuable place within the social media ecosystem; the caveat emptor is as long as social media consumption is not a substitute for physical social interaction.