My 1-month experiment with social media

Teresa Encarnacao
Sep 1, 2018 · 11 min read

The 1st of September; a day to remember. I looked forward to this day so that I could finally share with you my 1-month experiment with social media.

Spoilers alert:

  • I had hoped to share an overall positive experience with you.
  • The experience was enriching and unsettling — cue scam and spam business strategies.
  • I expected to tell you that it was easy to connect with like-minded people and that they shared my vision on how to outreach on social media.
  • The reality I found was different from the one I envisioned.
  • I want to propose to you a (new) way of thinking and of “making business”.
  • Unethical and opportunistic business models can only endure if you enable and implement them.

Let’s dive right into the art of the experiment.

Intention setting: I can contribute to creating a more wholesome and meaningful experience on social media by remaining committed and authentic to my code of ethics, principles, values, and attitude.

After a lengthy self-debate about whether to embark on the social media vessel, I committed to giving it a try months back. I wrote blogs before and am not a newbie to online communication. However, I was not interested in using social media on a daily basis. I was particularly not drawn to sharing content produced by others to seek likes for myself nor in promoting a life style based on material wealth and appearances rather than a life built on self-awareness and authenticity.

I established for myself that if I was going to work with social media my approach would remain one of:

  • Authenticity.
  • Accountability, and
  • Active Awareness

for the content that I share, in harmony with my ethics and moral code of conduct. This is how I always operate, whether it is on social media, in peace operations or in humanitarian response. I settled on not buying (literally) into unethical or questionable ways of making business.

Following months of developing and sharing quality content — all content and photos are original and my own –, to further explore how the world wide web domain behaves, I posed myself a challenge. I was going to post once a day, every day, for the month of August 2018. Leo season. Good time for bold experiments, right? I posted daily on Twitterand on Instagram. I posted biweekly on my Negotiating Life with Active Awareness blog. On my YouTube channel I posted the audio version of articles. I posted the same content on all platforms tailoring it to the respective formats.

I am aware that the amount of content currently floating around the numerous social media platforms is beyond our capacity to absorb. Thus, setting guidelines to filter through content and be selective on engagement is a good starting point.

The parameters I set for my social media strategy and experiment include:

  1. Being selective of who I follow: do I like only one post on the feed or most of the feed? If the latter, I follow. Otherwise, I comment or like for appreciation if a post is meaningful to me and resonant; however, do not follow if I am unlikely to engage further.
  2. Having a mindful outlook at what content is relevant to me: am I learning through this account or being distracted, or even stirred up as I do not resonate with it? I connect to those who make me feel resonant, not dissonant.
  3. Discerning my own audience: to promote an exchange it makes sense to connect with like-minded people and accounts. I follow those who echo my goals.
  4. Identifying topics that I want to learn more about, finding good quality accounts and following them. I then show appreciation and invest in reading about their journeys.
  5. Feeling who I want to connect to and resonate with by how they express themselves.

I applied these guidelines and followed people/accounts only when I knew that I wanted to connect and remain engaged. I did not follow to be followed. I did not like to be liked. I did not comment to get comments. I connected to share an experience, to learn, and to be inspired.

As I have a wide range of interests, from music to alternative healing therapies, from bullet journaling to psychology, from vegetarian recipes to travel bloggers, to name a few, I had to conduct extensive research. I invested a lot of time and energy in screening accounts and hashtags to assess what profiles and content met my interests, values, aesthetics and mindset.

Early on into my 1-month social media experiment, I realised that I was in for a surprise. I connected with and followed people whom I supposed regarded social media and engagement as I do. What I learnt is that the priority for many is a business of numbers regarding the revenue that they seek to generate and how many followers they hoard.

How the hive mind functions is that people follow more quickly those who have high numbers next to their intro line, regardless of the quality of the content shared, and/or who profess that the secret to wealth is easy if you can show love and light in a selfie while on a luxury trip. Realistically, how can someone without real content to speak for, with 34 posts consisting of someone else’s quotes and of selfies, who joined a social media platform 2 weeks ago have 19078 real followers?

“What’s in it for me” is a valuable question when engaging. What about your mindset?

On Twitter, perhaps as the posts we like and comment on show up on our feed and our activity trail is easier to follow, I did not observe what I witnessed on Instagram. On YouTube interaction was limited; I use it to post audio versions of my articles — for now. I do link my YouTube channel to my Instagram account posts. Several posts on my Instagram feed and on IGTV linked to the YouTube account were liked. This, however, was not reflected in the number of visits to my YouTube channel. Like for like, not for engagement? On my blog Negotiating Life with Active Awareness the visits were mostly referrals from my posts on Instagram, Twitter and Linkedin accounts. People clicked, visited, however only 0.01% engaged with a comment or like. Did people even read the content?

On Instagram I found numerous accounts that follow other accounts to sell services whereby you pay to get more followers. Many are called “Go to > Fame on Insta” accounts. There are also accounts seemingly held by ‘actual people’, with the handle “influencer” or “traveller”, proposing to you the same “Click to increase your following” type service. Zero value is attached to their follow or like; except for the $ value you pay if you elect this strategy.

As part of my challenge and research, I visited every account that followed my account. Interested, and naïve, I wanted to understand why they opted to follow my account and gauge if the interest was mutual. This is how you connect. Right? You meet someone, you get to know them, you feel if you have common interests and goals. Many of these accounts and profiles had links to buy followers services accompanied by a note encouraging you to do it as they did, or asking you to follow them because it would make them so happy to have more followers * cue photo in bikini or in shorts with a 6-pack showing by a pool or beach profile pic *.

I felt disappointed. Are social media platforms not built as tools to facilitate finding like-minded people and building social online communities that support each other in meaningful ways?

Social media is an ‘online’ representation of how people connect in ‘real life’. Many of the dynamics that I witnessed on these platforms were real life like interactions. The online configuration, though, made it faster and easier for me to assert whether people were interested in me for my content or to get something out of me, such as a follower, likes, comments, and attention, without investing anything in return.

The question “What’s in it for me?” gains (pun intended) a whole new gist in social media platforms.

To make it more direct and honest people/accounts that follow to get followers can simply state it from the get go. Then, I can reply “not interested dear online door-to-door (or account to account) sales person”. We each go our online ways. We each follow the set of values that we resonate with.

Perhaps @Instagram can add higher quality regulations and guidelines to discourage online opportunism and decrease the elevated amount of spam and scams?

In one day, I observed a fluctuation of 30 plus or less follows/followers of my account. That is 24 hours. 24 hours during which several accounts followed my account. Some resonated and I followed back. Others I wondered about their interest. I have an extensive array of curiosities. Other people may have it too. I gave the benefit of the doubt. However, most of them simply popped up, pressed follow to be noticed, and made no investment. This trend happened every day during the entire 1-month experiment, ranging from 10 to 30 follows and “unfollows”.

The next day, 24 hours after, most of these “followers” were gone. I did not understand how or why this was happening. Perhaps Instagram had a glitch? I looked into it. I researched how Instagram users and the platform itself operate; what is allowed within it as a business model. When I received follows and messages from bots and ‘buy followers’ accounts I rejected and reported them to Instagram as a scam and spam content.

Why would I adopt an unethical business model if I seek like-minded people to connect with? What does this approach tell me about most users of the social media platform?

Further, I visited every account for each like and comment that I received. I believe in meaningful reciprocity. When the content shared by the person connecting to what I had shared resonated with me I liked and commented back. From the bots, to the fishing for client accounts, to sales-oriented accounts, to accounts held by people I thought of as ethical and trustworthy, I visited them all. By the latter type I mean accounts that are verified as people presented as healing practitioners, psychologists, writers, coaches, holistic healers, artists, services of mental and emotional health improvement, yogis and the like.

While the spam accounts were obvious scams and the selling accounts I just ignored, what was deeply discouraging and alarming was that the large majority of these other accounts were fishing schemes as well. By fishing schemes here I mean the use of the follow for follow, follow for attention, then unfollow strategy. People promoting businesses claiming to seek connection with others to improve human experiences or to offer services to support healing are comfortable with, directly or through a paid service, follow an account, have zero engagement, and within 24 hours withdraw the follow.

Is this the new business model and do we have to buy into it? Is it kindergarten mentality — the please like me for attention while I withdraw? Is the lack of integrity acceptable given a perceived worldwide need for hustle and competition? It is success at all costs?

I experienced the 24-hour follow and withdraw follow system with accounts that I did not follow back and with accounts that I did follow back. Their only goal is to have more followers, not connections. They take the shortcut of inauthentic and unethical “fast food” engagement.

I could barely believe it. I bravely got (way) out of my comfort zone to connect, learn, exchange knowledge, grow, and feel inspired. I felt indignation and uninspired by what I experienced.

I am even more committed to, whatever the outcome may be, remain truthful, ethical and honest in how I reach out, connect, and invest.

Anecdotal evidence: many accounts that I visited only link with, quote, and repost content from “famous” people as it attracts likes. Hive mind. I saw the same quote being attributed to Buddha, Einstein and Keanu Reeves. People liked the quote and commented on how wonderful the quote was. No discernment nor questioning that something was off. Is this the result of poor memory or mindless engagement? Is it a Mandela effect? People spend hours scrolling through accounts, pressing like, begging for follows, engaging in drama about the lives of people that they have never met in person, without stepping back to discern the content that they are being spoon-fed.

Time used for scrolling through social media platforms would be best invested in applying conscious filters to make an ethical and mindful use of the remarkable resource that the internet can be.

Another anecdotal example: someone translated from English into their native language — which I speak fluently — a quote well known as authored by Buddha and signed their name after it. One thing is to translate a quote and add an embellishment that connects the post to the person’s business, while ethically naming the source. The other is to drop the author’s name and replace it with their own. Ethics anyone? The post got hundreds of likes and comments. No one questioned the approach.

Mind boggled and concerned by the modus operandi of most Instagram users, I had to do something different. Inspired by a lovely account holder who messaged me when I followed their account, I adopted their approach. I began messaging each new follower of my account. I thanked them and noted that I looked forward to connecting for mutual learning; not for follows. No more than 8% replied. Less than that (5%) remained as followers. The remaining 92%-95% were unprincipled, greedy attempts to get another follower, without making any investment, without seeking dialogue, and lacking integrity.

Some may say that I am naïve or unrealistic. This is the name of the game, this is a business model, this is how the world operate are excuses often used. On my thoughts on making excuses, I invite you to read my article “It Takes One” and my post “No excuses”.

There are also the takers be takers type. The one follower who checks all your stories and posts for months and not once leaves feedback.

I propose to you a (new) way of thinking and of “making business”:

The world only operates in an unethical and insincere manner, for the sake of numbers and gains, for as long as you abide by the premise that “this is how it works” and implement it yourself. Change the narrative and strategy approach. Demand that others do the same. Create change.

Actions speak louder than words. Responsibility lays on both sides of the exchange: the sender and the receiver. You can choose what model, values and principles you support.

You can demand change by withdrawing support from models, values and principles that keep the world running on a scarcity mentality of having to gain something at the cost of someone else.

Feel inspired to join me on my Instagram and Twitter accounts, my Negotiating Life with Active Awareness Blog, on my Youtube channel and even on my Linkedin account? Do it with an intention to connect meaningfully. Always with Active Awareness, consciousness and a constructive approach.

If you follow for a follow, go back to the start of the article and read it again.

Want to connect with a like-minded person? Be welcome. I look forward to meeting you.

I will post more articles on my experience with social media, negotiating life with active awareness, and on how I believe that we can create healthier models of interaction. Stay tuned!

With active awareness,

Teresa

https://negotiatingthroughlife.wordpress.com/2018/09/01/experiment-teresa-encarnacao/

* Credit the author Teresa Encarnação and include the link(s) to the Negotiating Life with Active Awareness site when sharing and/or quoting content. All content and photos are original and credited to the author Teresa Encarnação.


Originally published at negotiatingthroughlife.wordpress.com on September 1, 2018.

Teresa Encarnacao

Written by

Instigator of Meaningful Transformation | Integrative Vision Leader | Action-er | Wo/Mentor | Human PeaceBuilder * @ Negotiating Life with Active Awareness

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