the social appeal.

It’s no secret that we, as humans, are social creatures.

I recently joined the latest social-not-social media app BeReal and while trying to explain it to my mom the words “I don’t know. It’s just fun and I was feeling left out without it” just slipped right out from between my two lips. And DAMN, if that ain’t the sentence of all sentences to describe any and every social media app ever.

There has been a certain discourse going around about social media lately that it’s toxic and manipulating - like a bad boyfriend that you just can’t seem to stop making excuses for. As someone who works with social media every day, I completely understand the way that socials can be manipulating and bias-confirming. And as someone in a perfectly healthy marriage, social media IS my version of a bad boyfriend.

But we’re not here to talk about that.

Social media can be frickin cool, yo! The flip side to the way that socials are manipulative is that they can also be manipulatED.

Bottom line: the Instagram algorithm is just a continuation of the content you spend the most time on and gives you what it thinks you want to see. How to combat this? MIX IT UP! Look up content you don’t see a lot of but want to know more about. Do a couple searches for info on the opposite side of a controversial topic. Maybe get off of social media for a while to take a break from the information overload. This may not make up for the algorithm bias completely, but being aware of it will definitely help.

If you’re starting to think, “Man, this social media stuff is getting complicated.” Then, YEAH, you’re absolutely right. I really believe that we are not meant to consume so much content or have access to so many opinions. I’ve read stories about a casino that you walk into, serving free cookies and drinks that put you into a trance. A casino that people walk into but never out of. That honestly is not far off for some people. And if you’ve made it this far, you are likely not “some people” or at least one step closer to the exit doors…

So this little thought spiral left me asking myself why? Why am I using social media? What kinds of things do I want to see when I’m on social media and what steps can I take to curate the feed I’m looking for?

So here they are - these are the reasons why I do social media (and why it can even be sorta fun).

ONE: I am creative and visual and wordy - all at the same time. Bet you can’t guess what else is creative and visual and wordy … all at the same time? Yeah that would be social media. Social media is a great place to really run wild with what you can create.

TWO: INFO INFO INFO INFO (and more info). If you look in the right places, there is a lot to learn from social media. And it can be kind of nice to learn things from people who are just people. People who also have an addiction to house plants or who want to buy baskets and organizing containers for every single room in their house.

THREE: This might be a sin to say considering I run social media for a living, but it’s OK if not everything you do online is meticulously procured with the perfect keywords and optimized SEO. There is of course a time and a place for these things, but social media is allowed to be fun too! I would even go as far as to argue that you can have fun first - before adding all of the technical stuff to it.

Regardless of the technicalities, social media is really just a tool. How you decide to use it is entirely up to you.

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