DAY 26 : DON’T QUIT SOCIAL MEDIA, ADAPT TO IT
Hey Re-inventors!
This is Day 26 of the 30 DAYS OF DOING THINGS THAT I WAS ‘GONNA’ DO series.
Today I’m going to talk about a topic that has been on my mind since a few days
This is wierd. As time passes, humans have made and discovered new ways to connect with each other.
From pigeons carrying letters to telephone to radio to social media.
But now, there is this weird mindset that people have, wherein they want to quit stuff that they originally made to connect with each other.
It’s like abandoning your own creation
There is a lot of buzz around the fact that social media is distracting and it is unnecessary and you should avoid it.
It’s just not true!
Ask the founders of famous apps like Facebook and Instagram and Snapchat about why they made such applications and platforms
This is why Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook, explained in his own words”:
“When I made Facebook two years ago my goal was to help people understand what was going on in their world a little better. I wanted to create an environment where people could share whatever information they wanted, but also have control over whom they shared that information with. I think a lot of the success we’ve seen is because of these basic principles.
We made the site so that all of our members are a part of smaller networks like schools, companies or regions, so you can only see the profiles of people who are in your networks and your friends. We did this to make sure you could share information with the people you care about."
Wait right here. Before you move forward, I want you to read that bold text once again. Done?
Now here’s what Kevin Systrom has to say about starting Instagram :
"Our goal is to not just be a photo-sharing app, but to be the way you share your life when you’re on the go”
Once again, read the bold words and move on
And finally watch this video to see why Snapchat was created brought to you by Evan Spiegel himself,
He clearly says that “people are using photographs to talk”
None of the social media platforms started as apps that help people to show something different than who they are. They also did not start as apps that will distract people the way they do.(or rather I should say that we get distracted due to them). They started with an ambition to change the way people communicate and share stories.
They were started by the vision of the founders to help people share their AUTHENTIC SELF and SHARE THEIR LIFE.
Now that we have cleared why the social media platforms were started, let’s see a few ways that people are using these platforms:
- Looking at the lives of other people and scrolling through Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat and looking what other people are up to
- Flirting
- Uploading pictures and videos
- Messaging people
- Adding stories
- Liking and commenting on other people’s photos
- Reading news and reacting to the happenings in the world through twitter
- Finding jobs, internships and players in your industry through LinkedIn
And many more……
(Although LinkedIn and twitter have very less users than the other three)
These are some of the main things that we use social media for. But we don’t use it for the most important things i.e. Personal Branding and Storytelling
These two things are at the core of why the platforms even came into existence. Through social media, you can amplify your personal brand by being authentic and storytelling is simply sharing your ideas with the world.
Rather than doing these things, we are much worried about likes and comments on our posts and as a matter of fact, all of us must have told our friends at least once to like our photo.(Or maybe it’s only me)
Rather than being authentic we portray ourselves as something we are not. When I find a difference between what a person looks like on instagram and what they are in real life, I do not feel like talking to them.
Now I know that there are a lot of problems with social media, I’m not naive to ignore them.
Problems such as cyber bullying are real. This is like a hard-to-get-out situation and for this I have one thing to say; everything has it’s pros and cons
Let’s talk about things that are wrong with us and not with social media:
We give too much weight to other people’s opinion of us
The reason people, especially teenagers, use social media is to get likes and comments so that they are ‘liked’ by people. They seek for approval. If a photo has 50 likes instead of 150 likes then they actually get sad. I don’t understand how people get time to click 20 photos and then choose the 2 best ones to post. When you drop the need to be liked by someone else, the whole world changes. You would suddenly stop caring less about how you look in photos and caring less about likes and comments. And yes, not to forget, your social media profiles will start to seem more authentic.
We have made it a distraction
If you have 5 minutes of free time and you have your phone in your hand, there is a very high chance that you will open Instagram or Snapchat. I have seen it time and time again, be it during the commute, in classes, during meetings or wherever. We complain all the time how social media has become a distraction for people and thus we should quit it. Let me tell you one thing, if you quit it, you might be missing on the greatest opportunities in your life. This is the evolution of how humans communicate and if you don’t want to be a part of it, it’s okay. But I would highly recommend that you start auditing yourself to not be distracted.
Why can’t we stop consuming content so much and just focus on producing content?
For example, you can just post your pictures on Instagram whenever you want to and not scroll through it all day. I do the same thing. I am not off of any of these platforms but I just don’t consume any content there.
If the notifications disturb you, disable them, that’s it.
Why am I telling you to fix yourself? Because whether you want it or not,social media is growing. It is becoming the fundamental way we connect and communicate. And I guarantee that there is a lot more to come. The platforms won’t change but you have to mold these platforms to your advantage. It does not care about whether you think that the platforms are good or bad and it will grow by leaps and bounds regardless.
You can sit there and complain about all the negative shit or you can focus on the positive side and adapt to whatever is coming in a way that is beneficial to you.
Not utilizing the full power of social media
Many of the teenagers who are insanely active on Instagram are not so active on Twitter or LinkedIn. Why? Because these platforms require work. Twitter requires you to be smart in order to succeed. Posting a tweet and efficiently saying whatever you want to say in a concise manner (140 characters) is difficult. Similarly, making your profile on LinkedIn itself takes a lot of time. And just because these platforms do not offer you the “FUN” that other platforms do, you don’t use them.
Stop seeing social media as a fun thing to do and start seeing it as how we all will be communicating for years to come. Stop being only in your circle of friends and worrying about likes and comments and get out there to connect with new people. Stop letting social media waste your time and use it in a way that can aid your success in a huge way.
This was my take on the topic
If you like it, show some love by clapping it up!
If you agree, comment below, if you agree to disagree, comment below and maybe I can learn something from you
Be happy and keep Re-inventing yourself!
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