Cutting the social media cord (sorta)

In the last issue, I talked about how we’re addicted. We’re addicts.

People no longer allow themselves any downtime. They don’t allow themselves to simply be there, with their thoughts, or with other people. Instead, they whip out their phone and scroll through social media.

It is no wonder that the human attention span today is about the same as a goldfish.

It is no wonder people are depressed. Because they’re doing nothing meaningful. And the very thing they’re addicted to (social media) often leads to feeling inadequate because people have this tendency to always post their highlights on social media and never any of the “behind the scenes”.

You know how many people I’ve met who, judging from social, have awesome lives?…. but then I happen to know via one means or another that they’ve got addiction issues, are struggling with depression, or something else? I mean, social media is most certainly not a “what you see is what you get” sorta place. To put it mildly.

So, let’s say you realize all that. And you want to do something about it.

Now, you could just cut social media out of your life altogether. That’s always an option. And, honestly, you’d probably be better off.

But, many don’t want to. And that includes me. After all, there are legit uses for social media.

I like to have some connection to family and friends that way. I certainly have business uses for social media. I also use a few Facebook groups for useful things, whether it be my interest in RVs, or customer support groups of some of the companies I do business with. There’s also Facebook Marketplace, which can be pretty handy.

So, social media isn’t inherently a bad thing. It is only bad if you turn into an addict. And, let’s not sugarcoat things…. these networks are INTENTIONALLY DESIGNED to be addictive. The people who designed Facebook are basically drug dealers.

So, how can you cut the cord, but still keep social media as a tool?

Here’s some ideas I have found:

• If you have the app(s) on your phone, go into settings and turn off ALL notifications. Make sure that that app never, EVER proactively notifies you of anything. And that includes the little notification icon over the app icon. Turn it all off.

• If you can’t do that, consider deleting the app. You can always use Facebook in the phone’s browser. It is more annoying, but perhaps that’s a good thing.

• On your computer, try a browser add-on that will hide the news feed. Perhaps something like News Feed Eradicator (which is a Chrome add-on). This way you can go to Facebook to do something and not get sucked into the vortex.

• If you have to, set up a software to literally block your browser from going to certain websites.

It may sound funny to have to literally block your own self from certain things on your own devices, but this can be the nature of addiction. Sometimes you have to use these external hacks to outsmart yourself so you don’t fall off the wagon.

One more thing…

You get to choose who you’re connected to on social media. And truthfully, some people inject shit into the world and others do not. Sometimes we need to evaluate connections with a clear view. So…

Do you have people on social media who continually post crap? Political news stories? Memes? Anything that upsets you and makes you want to argue?

Unfriend them or, at a minimum, unfollow them. Always remember, Facebook gives you the option to unfollow people without unfriending them, so you can still remain connected if you want, you just won’t see their updates.

Also, don’t engage with the kind of things that fuel your problem. Don’t like the post, don’t react, don’t comment. Just ignore it. Because, as I said, the Facebook people are freakin’ drug dealers. It is no different than a person taking a hit of drugs, but the dealer is sitting over them saying “That was good, right? You want some more? Want some more? Come on, here’s some more!” That’s what Facebook does… every damn day. When you react to something, you’re training Facebook to sit there and shovel more of it into your eye sockets.

So, the only way out (other than hiding the whole damn thing) is to send Facebook new signals. Hide the bullcrap. Don’t react to it. Over time, the Facebook druggies will stop trying to shovel you the horse crap.

To end off…

I may be coming off a little blunt here. I may be hitting close to home. Or perhaps you agree with everything I’ve said. But, here’s the thing…

I feel STRONGLY about this.

Social media ia a great tool, but people have let it get out of hand. It is hurting people. Here I am trying to help people build meaningful change in their lives via online business, but one of the chief problems I deal with is people’s short attention spans, having too little time, etc.

I also get a lot of people who want to start blogs about personal development issues. Which only tells me there seems to be a lot of unhappy, unfulfilled people out there.

I wish I could reach through the computer screen and smash their phones.

OK, well, that’d be rude. And kinda of a butthead move. But, I’d probably be doing them a favor.

I feel strongly about this stuff. At the same time, this topic is perhaps one of the biggest productivity tips I could ever deliver. My aim is to help.