The Double-Edged Sword of Social Media

I'll start this out by acknowledging that my career would look remarkably different without social media. It's been built on a foundation of knowledge on how to use it for brands and better position myself as a marketer in public. I got my first job by articulating my knowledge of how this new Facebook Pages thing could work for a company. Social media helped me test my own ideas on marketing and connect with great folks in Atlanta, which opened my first agency opportunity.

Social media has opened career doors for me. It's helped me connect with people I may not have otherwise. I've stayed in touch with friends from home that I may not have otherwise. I believe you can create real connections and use it as a force for good in your life.

But it's also a time suck. At a macro level, it's done about as much (if not more) harm than good for the world. While I can't imagine my life without it, I also daydream about how I could live without it.

I was talking to my 80+-year-old grandfather on the phone the other day, and he mentioned how he wanted to learn more about being online, using social media, etc. My advice to him was to avoid it. At this stage of life, it probably wouldn't be as much of a value-add for him.

Social (Media) Security

A big part of my reasons for being active online, especially on LinkedIn, are job and financial security. Seeing all the green "Open to Work" circles while I scan my LinkedIn is a wake-up call. While some career decisions are riskier than others, there's truly no "safe" job. If something went sideways with my current job, I know it'll be much easier for me to pivot to a new thing if I already have personal "brand awareness." Brand building for anyone takes time and is truly a long game. It's much easier for me to credential myself over time with social media activity than to have to start from scratch (with a much shorter runway) to build credibility with a hiring manager who doesn't know me from Adam.

That's not to say maintaining a digital presence isn't bad. Networking and being known in your professional community have always been critical to career growth. In-person events are a lot harder to attend when juggling kid extracurricular schedules and the demands of my actual job. Social media provides me the flexibility to network asynchronously on my own time.

It's not all bad! But it is exhausting if I'm being honest.

Making New Friends and Keeping Old Ones

On the one hand, I have genuinely made IRL friends due to a digital-first connection. I have had some great meals and drinks with folks that I wouldn't have connected with otherwise if it wasn't for the help social media provides. I can't totally be down on social for that reason.

Thanks to Facebook and Instagram, I've even maintained connections with older friends from home. While I have thoughts on Facebook as a company, I enjoy seeing friends I grew up with brag about their kids, celebrate milestones, and even lament hard times. It's pretty fun, even if it's just a two-dimensional interaction, and I appreciate that.

That said, there is a lot of junk on my feed—loads of stuff I don't care to see, nothing that's making me a better person.

There are also times when I learn arguably too much about my friends. I don't need to know how a friend I made in a rec soccer league feels about the trade deficit or the latest pyramid scheme that a person I was in science class with once in high school joined via Facebook. Some friendships are meant to be surface-level, and that's okay!

Social media has helped me recognize more of humanity while simultaneously, depending on the day, losing faith in it.

Where do we go from here?

I don't have a main point or a solid solution here. I just wanted to communicate my love-hate relationship with how we "connect" online.

I appreciate the good things my social activity has brought into my life. In other ways, I wish it never existed.

My only true coping mechanism starts this and runs through April. The past several years, I've given up all social for Lent. Being less exposed to breaking news and hot takes is a huge relief. Professionally, I can't be digitally radio silent. My livelihood depends on it to a degree. But my annual faith-induced Lenten sabbaticals are a blessing.

Given the news cycle now, I couldn't be taking a month off at a better time.