Tag Archives: social media

Don’t Quit Social Media, Put it to Work Instead

An interesting article here in the New York Times pointed out to me by a friend, written as a counterpoint to the article I mentioned in my last post:

Don’t Quit Social Media, Put It to Work for your Career Instead

“Cultivating your social media brand is a fundamentally passive approach to professional advancement.”

“There are many people with a presence on social media who are what we affectionately call lurkers, those who may never or rarely post or share but who simply consume content widely. These activities may seem passive, but they are not. Lurkers may be doing much to further their careers: learning new things, keeping up with the latest trends or preparing for any conversation that might crop up in the break room or during a job interview.”

I admit to being – or trying to be – one of the latter. A lurker. I’ve been trying to not get drawn into the memes, the politics, the pandering and simply observe.

Quit Social Media. Your Career May Depend on It.

Quit social media. Your career may depend on it.

Interesting opinion piece from the New York Times shared with me via email by a friend. The email share to a group fostered some discussion, here were a few words I contributed.

I fluctuate back and forth with regard to the ‘ability to concentrate’ issue. I’ve read articles in the past (that I’m not going to bother to track down now) that argue the opposite, that social media use throughout the day actually provided a ‘break’ for your mind, and allowed you to more fully devote your concentration and focus to your work when you were actually working. I guess the distinction here lies in how often you are actually checking your SM feeds.

A few other quips:

We’ve been told that it’s important to tend to your so-called social media brand, as this provides you access to opportunities you might otherwise miss and supports the diverse contact network you need to get ahead. Many people in my generation fear that without a social media presence, they would be invisible to the job market.

I have 100% felt this pressure, whether real or imagined. And at various times I’ve felt stress about not doing enough with my SM accounts to ‘further my brand’, especially with regard to trying to attract new freelance work or possibly influence those with whom I’ve applied for jobs. Conversely, some days, I come close to closing every account I have because it’s all bullshit. As the author says, any kid can make a shiny, pro-looking website and attract a legion of followers from his basement, doesn’t necessarily make him employable or qualified to do anything.

The more you use social media in the way it’s designed to be used — persistently throughout your waking hours — the more your brain learns to crave a quick hit of stimulus at the slightest hint of boredom.

TOTALLY guilty here. Often times when I’m bored or between tasks and should probably do something else, I find myself stagnant, looking for something to do (both at work and at home). This would be predominately when I would hit up social media – as if something I found there was going to provide some sort of ‘spark’ that would get me headed in the right direction. Indeed perhaps the way a junkie needs a fix, I was looking for a nugget of inspiration that I, for whatever reason, couldn’t find elsewhere that would motivate me to do something. More often than not, I would just get lost down some rabbit hole for 15-20 minutes, finally snap out of it and feel even worse for having wasted the time unproductively. Without getting off on a tangent or proselytizing, Zen practice has made huge strides in this regard. When bored or without something to do for a moment, I now no longer struggle with what to do, and have stayed away from SM during these moments more and more consistently. That, combined with things like removing SM apps from my phone, have me checking in less and less and wondering if I could pull out of some or all of my accounts all together, perhaps to my betterment.

I’m coming to see it more as a challenge, and one the author touches on. The fact of the matter is, that SM and indeed ‘online brands/personas’ aren’t going anywhere, and arguably will only increase in presence in scope. How does one opt to not get caught up in that – something a generation like my kids will invariably be completely immersed in – yet still remain relevant and viable?

Why you should consider Google+. Again.

I’ve been having lots of conversations with people lately regarding their trust – or lack thereof – of Facebook/Instagram and their use/intentions with regards to your content and data. I’ve always maintained that posting info on ANY service on the internet is never going to be 100% guaranteed, but how a company conducts itself ethically, to me speaks volumes as to what level of confidence you should have in said service.

I dumped my Instagram account when Facebook bought them, because I was pretty sure no good would come of that.

I myself, don’t really trust Facebook anymore and pretty much only maintain an account there to connect with people that I don’t have a means to anywhere else, and also to administer my company’s page.

Though it may seem like a hassle to learn something new and you might have heard reports to the contrary, Google+ is a real alternative with a thriving community, better development and applications, and considerably less bullshit.

The level and quality of engagement I’ve found on Google+ with both people I knew already and new people I’ve connected with vastly surpasses most experiences I’ve had on Facebook.

It may seem silly to speak in such earnest and sincere terms about something that to many is ‘just an app’ or merely a ‘distraction’, but the fact of the matter is, whether you choose to acknowledge it or not, the way we connect with people, build relationships both at work and home, find services and products, learn new things, and gather information has changed and will continue to change, sometimes in the very moments as we type.

With the continuing proliferation of wireless connectivity and mobile devices, these ‘tools’ will continue to become more ingrained and integrated into our lives. Like any other issue of our days – politics, human rights, etc. – change will only come about if people choose to ‘vote’ for it, by demonstration with their actions.

How do you want to move forward?

The Status Quo will always be just that, unless people change. If you believe there’s no viable options to Facebook – or whatever service you’re unhappy with – then you are making the choice yourself to stay in the situation you’re in.