Should you quit social media? Yes, says Cal Newport!

adambarratt (62)in #socialmedia • 6 years ago

Posing the questions - is social media able to be avoided in today's world, and also, is it actively damaging?

I came across this great little TED Talk yesterday, on this very topical topic… the use of social media and whether we should be on these platforms at all.

Coincidentally, I've just started re-reading Cal's book Deep Work which covers the same area. That is; getting productive, focused, distraction free work done in order to produce something epic, over all the shallow stuff that's pumped out left, right and centre.

Cal himself has never had a social media account, here he explains why along with the 3 most common objections he hears and why they are "nonsense':

There are some fascinating things that you may or may not be aware of.

For one, Social Media companies actually employ 'attention engineers'. It's there job, to make and keep you addicted (borrowing concepts from casinos). All in aid of maximising profit from attention and data.

Is it a fundamental technology?

No. It just leverages technology but isn't fundamental in itself, Cal suggests. It's simply a source of entertainment, and an unsavoury one at that. There are many forms of entertainment out there. He describes it as a 'slot machine for your phone'.

Important points from this talk and his book:

Society and the market place value production that is rare. They dismiss what is easy to replicate and produces a small amount of value. SM generally sits with the latter and adversely affects the former.

But it's all harmless fun.

Well, the potential harms Newport points out are - fragmented attention, reduction in concentration/focus (long-term as well as short), feelings of loneliness and isolation, inadequacy, depression… and a pervasive background hum of anxiety. Beautiful.

He finishes up with that we should treat our attention with respect and that intensity can be traded for time. Shorter periods of focused work can not only get more done with higher quality but also give you far more free time to do the things you love.

What do you think, Adam?

To some degree it's an unanswerable, but I have to agree to a large extent. It comes back, as ever, to you controlling the tech over it controlling you. The things we can do nowadays are amazing. We absolutely should leverage the technology but not be sucked in by it. How do you do that? That's another article… and is also covered in the second half of Deep Work.

As a writer you need to write and you need to be alone and not distracted. You can knock out simple stuff in other circumstances (and so can everyone else) but there's no chance of doing the truly inspired work.

There's a divide. Some people say you need all the SM to promote yourself and your work (not to mention FOMO). Correct. But if you're producing high level work and at an epic rate, the world will find you, without a doubt.

It's also important to know yourself, personality type and habits… then act accordingly (which can change over the course of time, so ongoing self-awareness and implementation is key).

Don't worry, we can allow Steem. That's fine, Cal must have forgot to mention it in his talk ;)

Either way, it's a balanced and intelligent talk and his books are worth checking out. He also wrote So Good They Can't Ignore You.

So, what do you think? Social Media - friend or foe? And how best to balance it all?

~ Adam
@adambarratt

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