At some point in recent time, we all got swept under the assumption that we need to have social media as an integral part of our daily lives. Someone somewhere decided that this was good for us, and this mentality became viral.
Nowadays, it is perfectly normal to constantly check how many likes you have on Facebook and to post endless selfies on Instagram and Snapchat.

Does the qualification of being “normal” necessarily make it right? Does the convenience of social media make it absolutely imperative to engage with it all of the time?

At this point, my answer to both questions is no.  I have reached this conclusion only because I have found that the disadvantages of your forum of choice (whether it is Twitter, Instagram, FB, or something else) far outweigh the advantages.

Let’s make a couple of lists.

Advantages of Social Media

• Constant interaction with friends near and far
• Sharing one’s life with friends, family, and colleagues through posting pictures, stories, and other content
• Free and unlimited usage
• It’s funDisadvantages of Social Media
• Highly addictive
• Personal information is used by companies for marketing purposes and other nefarious intentions such as influencing voter behavior
• Encourages disingenuous posts by users that are misleading and present a false reality
• Cultivates online stalking behavior
• Time-consuming
• Provides exposure to news and media content that is fake or unsubstantiated
• Creates a false sense of worth through likes and comments
• Distracts from more important work in one’s life that involve creativity and deeper focus

Obviously, these are my own perceptions,  but all of the points included in these lists are the most significant to me.  We all drank the water and somehow, have become convinced that social media is not only okay but also essential to our connection with the world and our sense of personal identity.

I am not going to drink this water anymore, and I am formulating my own strategy of how to achieve a healthy distance from social media in ways that magnify its benefits and significantly minimize its risks.

Here are some of the new social media practices I will try out:

1. No more hashtags.

Hashtags are supposed to attract attention to your posts, and to some degree, they do. The problem I find is the kind of attention they attract. Hashtags seem to create a paper trail that maps out what you value and what your interests are. These are exactly the kinds of things that advertisers are looking for. I am basically advertising my own sensibilities out to the world for companies to exploit. Why would I do that? From now on, no more hashtags

2. Limit likes on Facebook to close family members and friends

Again, one’s likes create a map of one’s preferences and inclinations. By limiting them to the activities of a small handful of people, this map ought to be deemed useless. I will not be liking any products, services, and content that gives companies more insight into my wallet and time.

3. Only post content that adds value to others or has meaning to me.

I generally do this anyway, but you won’t find me posting a bunch of selfies. I’ll showcase my photography, blog posts, music and shows, creative work, and anything that involves thought, depth, and hard work on my part.

4. Limit my time on social media.

At this point, the only social media app I have on  my phone is Instagram, and I use it to distribute all my content to FB, Twitter, and Tumblr.  Facebook is only accessed on my laptop. This is still a work in progress, but my usage has decreased since I’ve unloaded my cell phone of all that stuff. Eventually, I want to get to a place in which I only access FB once every two or three days.

These four practices are what I have so far, but I plan on initiating more strategies that refine and limit my social media usage in the future. From now on, I proceed knowing that the most important part of my life are the actual face-to-face interactions and relationships that I cultivate every day.  Social media cannot be more important than this, even though it certainly wants to be.

I will write more about how this is going and the progress I am making.

-Roqué

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What I have been doing lately may be subtle or even inconsequential, but I have been taking  small steps to fight the power of social media. Earlier this week, news was released about a company called Cambridge Analytica that compromised the personal data of close to 50 million facebook users in order to influence the 2016 presidential election. This is only one egregious abuse of access that large corporations and private entities are granted by social media companies, but it is a significant one–one of possibly countless others that are occurring without our knowledge or consent.

These kinds of invasions are compounded by the use of algorithms and powerful data analysis tools that comb through millions of our posts, hashtags, and photos in order to hone in on our sensibilities, personal tastes, and behavioral patterns. This information essentially becomes valuable fodder for businesses and corporations to use to target prospective customers. These entities can design marketing campaigns based upon vast amounts of social media information that we are freely handing over to them through our daily engagement.

This feels like a subtle form of surveillance and, ultimately, mind control that influences our decisions and inclinations.

Ok then, what can be done about this? Since social media and its encroaching power are relatively new phenomena, there does not appear to be a fail-safe way to guard oneself against it without completely disengaging. This does not mean that we should not try.

Here are some simple safeguards that I have implemented that guide my social media usage:

• NEVER post personal information such as your street address, the name of the company you work for, phone number, or any other identifying information that could be used against you.
• LIMIT your use of social media as much as you can. I have removed facebook and facebook messenger from my cell phone. I only check facebook on my internet browser when I am on my laptop. Otherwise, just use social media less. Maybe only allow yourself one-half hour of engagement per day? The less engaged you are, the less free information about your life that you are giving to the world.
• CHOOSE one social media site to focus your output. These days, I primarily use Instagram because I love that its engagement is centered on photos and captions. As a creative person, this interface is simple and ideal. I have my instagram account set up so that it also posts on facebook and twitter simultaneously without having to visit those other sites. If facebook or twitter suits your needs better, than go with either of those. The smaller your window to the world, the less accessible you and your information can be.
• UNDERSTAND how addictive social media is. These sites are designed to translate your usage into a formula that engages your attention for as long and as often as possible. Be aware of this and let this knowledge inform your behavior.
• DESIGN posts that convey your vision of the world and your values instead of giving too personal a glimpse into your life. For example, do not post a photo of the front your house. Instead, post a photo of a flower that you grew in your garden. Do not post about the gifts you received for Christmas. Instead, write about the quality time you had with family and how it made you feel. Think about the message and the energy you want to put out into the world. You should dictate your own conversation, not the other way around.
• DO NOT USE HASHTAGS, but if you have to, use them sparingly and know that they are like little lighthouses that attract companies who want to sell you products that relate to the ideas you espouse.  Again, this relates to how you want to portray your personal life on social media. Take control of the information and proceed with caution.
• BUILD YOUR OWN PLATFORM. What I am doing with my website roqueinbloom.com and this blog is using my own platform to share ideas about my life, my ideals, and my activities.  This personal space on the internet exists without some multi-national corporation or foreign government mining my data.  Sure, hundreds of my friends and colleagues from facebook may probably never visit my website, but the friends who will are the only ones that truly matter. (Of course, I also have the ability to post links on social media back to my blog and website every week, thereby using social media to my own personal advantage.)

This is just a small handful of steps I have been thinking about and taking toward my ongoing social media usage. These will not be the only steps I take, and I will be posting more of my ideas surrounding social media and internet usage.

At the very least, I want to invite you to think about how you engage with social media.  Understand how addictive it is and how it can use all that you post and disclose for or against you without your consent.

Either way, it’s up to you how much of your own power and privacy you want to surrender.

-Roqué

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