(un)Social Media

Social media...the blessing and curse.

How do you use social media? To keep in touch with friends? To promote your business? Or more so, what is the excuse you tell yourself to check your social media multiple times a day?

I tell myself that I keep social media around for my business- and I do enjoy sharing photos I’ve taken and seeing the comments when clients post their favorite portraits online. I tell myself I would miss keeping in touch with out-of-town friends and family...but how much do I actually interact with them? How much of my time is simply wasted mindlessly scrolling through social media news feeds?

I love writing and being able to share my blog with the 6 of you who actually enjoy reading it. (Thanks, Mom!) But in recent months, I sit down to write and catch myself losing all motivation after scrolling through social media...which, let's be honest, will suck the creativity right out of your soul. I might post a funny meme or status here or there, but for the most part...I write things in my mental journal and they never see the light of day. Writing, like horseback riding and shopping for new boots, is therapeutic for me...and perhaps brings a bit of entertainment for others. #maybesometimes

A few weeks ago, we sat down as a family to watch The Social Dilemma on Netflix. It discussed much of what I just mentioned, and how most of the world is addicted to social media. We don’t realize it...but when we have 30 seconds to spare, or a program is taking 5 seconds longer than normal to load, we jump on social media and scroll through the newsfeed of 300 acquaintances to maybe see one post that may interest us. (Or a really adorable animal video...who can scroll past those!?) However, even though we mostly do not gain sufficient satisfaction in our scrolling, we will continue to check back in only to achieve the same results. (If you’ve ever studied addiction, you’ll recognize this trait. Addicts only achieve the “really good high” once...they spend the rest of their addiction searching for that high which they can never reach.)

So...I’ve decided to redirect my social media activity back to writing. (And yes...I’m writing this to hold myself accountable to writing weekly...instead of wasting time reading things that don’t really achieve positive results.)

Prepare yourselves for an abundance of stories that I think are funny...or noteworthy.