| To opt in or not to opt in, that is the question. If you haven’t watched The Social Dilemma yet then you better go catch it on Netflix. Go ahead, I’ll wait. 😉 When my husband saw the trailer for this show his actual words were, “I want to see that. You can write it off as market research.” Yes, I know we can’t really write it off, but the point is that my business (social media management) often lends itself to the bizarre and creative. For years I have known on some level how damaging social media can be. As someone who is on social media for work every day I have taken some pretty extreme measures to protect myself and my own sanity while working. Post watching The Social Dilemma, I am even more delighted that I have habits in place to limit the effect of social media on my life. Is The Social Dilemma accurate from a social media managers point of view? A resounding YES. For years we have known that social media exists in order to gather information on the masses. As the saying goes, if you’re not paying for the product, you are the product. I remember my first social media course years ago and the teacher demonstrated how he could build an advertising campaign to target a single individual. You know that the tool is powerful if out of everyone that is on the platform, you can narrow your results down to one specific person. It’s terrifying…and, honestly, exciting for those who are looking to utilize social media to grow their businesses. Do I think social media is innately evil? NO. Do I think that we should be wary of social media and use it with caution? YES. Below are my top three tips to put in place IMMEDIATELY to help improve your experience on social media. Tip 1. Turn your notifications OFF. Yes, all of them. There is nothing so important that is going to happen on social media that can’t wait until you next open the app. Notifications build on our sense of urgency. Something can be urgent and unimportant at the same time. That doesn’t mean that it’s easy to ignore the urgency. In fact, I have the notifications turned off on my texts and phone calls too. You don’t have to go that far but I find that it helps me stay calm and focused throughout my workday. Tip 2. Schedule your social media time. Social media apps are built to keep you engaged and wanting more. I set a timer before opening the app with the amount of time I think a task will take. Or the amount of time I want to spend. I can get a basic round of engagement (My Daily FIT) done in 5 minutes or a post in 2 to 3. Don’t know how much time something takes? Start timing yourself. 🙂 Tips 3. Set a clear intention. Are you looking to post something? Respond to messages? Or just mindlessly scroll? Whatever you want to do make sure your goal is clear before opening the app or website. You’re about to engage in the equivalent of disneyland for your mind and it is very easy to lose track of your actual purpose. I hope these three tips help keep you from being frazzled on social media! Have a social media question? I would LOVE to help. Tweet Me / DM Me / Message Me Stay Social Happy! |
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