Social media, do we need it? Here are a few reasons why we don’t: it’s a huge time waster, it lowers your self-esteem, it’s addictive and unhealthy, privacy issues, you often don’t learn anything valuable, it can make you negative, it can damage your reputation, it encourages superficial relationships.
For me, I’ve gotten value from social media because I’ve focused on what I want to get from it. Which means I haven’t experienced most of the things that I mentioned above.
I’ve had a Facebook account for almost 15 years. But I don’t use it like most people use it; I don’t go in there and scroll through the feed to see what people are doing. Frankly, I don’t care. I use it for direct messages, and people will direct me if there’s something important to see.
I use Instagram as my personal magazine of the things I like: cars, basketball, sneakers, technology, travel, photography, mindset stuff and models. Twitter is the social network I use the most, and the one I’ve gotten the most value from, because it’s where I get the intellectual stimulation. I’ve met many interesting people on Twitter which have become offline friends; and that’s great!
Two years ago I reduced my social media time because I was inundated with work; so I didn’t have a lot of time. What I missed the most during that time was the intellectual stimulation I got; not the memes and nonsense.
I know people who are perfectly happy being offline. Sure, they’re missing out on stuff. But they don’t care. It’s not a surprise, there are benefits from not using smartphones and social media. With that said, the only reason I feel the need to be on social media is because of intellectual stimulation. I’m not in it to chit-chat and waste time, I’m in it to connect with people who are intellectually stimulating and contribute value to their network.
So ask yourself: what do you want to get from it?
You can stay clear of all the negative stuff, but we all know that’s a dream. Why? Because you have to be more rational; and that’s not something humans wake up everyday to do. Most people don’t wake up with the intent to get smarter and better everyday.
With that said, we are what we pay attention to. So, to control your life, control what you pay attention to.
Bottom line: We don’t need social media. We need human connection, by sharing our thoughts and ideas; we don’t need the bullshit that comes with social media.