My decision to significantly reduce my social media presence…
Social media is a bit like Marmite, some people love it and some people hate it! If you listen to my radio show on Calon FM (105 FM and www.calonfm.com) you may think that I totally hate social media. In fact, I can see where it has its place and is useful; and I can also see where it may cause difficulty in terms of losing time, affecting self-worth, and may be a vehicle for bullying etc.
Image: Yuganov Konstantin/Shutterstock
In my personal life, I use social media to the minimum… I have lost days exploring various rabbit holes! In my professional life I have at times attempted to post blogs via my website on a weekly basis, and post comments on various social media platforms on a daily basis. The use of social media for professional interests is incongruent with how I use social media personally. What I have noticed over time is that I feel posting things on social media to be a chore, and as such is not something I look forward to… my heart sinks and I procrastinate to avoid doing it/delay doing it. I am also aware that when I’m reading journals, books and magazines, or watching programmes on TV for example, I may read or watch them with the intention of finding useful things to share on the social media platforms that I use.
Therefore looking for social media content is encroaching on my personal time, and on my hobbies and activities. Some people love it, that whole process of looking for content, posting, and looking at what other people are saying. It just isn’t for me. I prefer human contact. Furthermore, in my work as a counsellor and mindfulness teacher, I see first-hand the effects that social media use may have on mind, body and soul. And certainly for myself, my mood is improved when I am less engaged with this medium. On a practical note, my voice recognition software is not particularly well-suited to working with some social media platforms, and with the importing of images – so my pain is increased.
What kept me going in persisting with social media, although over time the frequency of my post significantly reduced, was promoting the business. I have no way to measure whether what I put on Facebook or Twitter brings potential clients in or not. I certainly have not received any enquiries from people saying that what I put on Facebook encouraged them to contact me. And so I have made some big decisions… Drum roll please…
To stop posting on a regular basis;
To only post something that I wish/choose to share;
To put myself in control of social media and my business; rather than living by someone else’s expectations (those expectations of frequency of posts coming from social media platforms and business networking groups).
So although I may not post for weeks at a time, I am still here! I am making this choice for me and for my quality of life. I am perhaps, swimming against the tide. I do hope that you understand and please know that I have not disappeared, Ebb & Flow Counselling and Mindfulness is still very much here and in business!
Image: Jiff/shutterstock
