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Social Media can (and will) suck your life

by Artkantos
20 replies
Normally I work on Twitter from an automation tool, but today I wanted to try some stuff in the actual app...Boy, it's been a long time since I waste that much time, the feed it's like a black hole for your attention and your time!

I don't remember it being so addictive and not only that, I ended up annoyed because it makes you feel stupid with all the: "1 year ago I was super-broke and I had zero-business experience, today I'm a billionaire, here's how I did it...1 bs 2 bs...etcetera" Normally I don't give an f, but after some hours seeing that stuff is like: "Where all these geniuses come from? My results have taken time and effort and are far from being that massive lol

Anyways, just sharing my experience and a tip: If you have to deal with social media, always do it with an external tool...the social media feeds are carried by the devil!
#life #media #social
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  • Profile picture of the author ernestrategos
    Arkantos. Its accurate social network feeds are time-suckers.
    When I began using Twitter, I could spend a few hours at night "interacting" with people.
    After a few weeks, I decided it wasn't worth my time, so I decided I would better use that time reading e-books. So fast forward a few weeks; I read about one e-book each week instead of engaging on the feed.

    Today, I check what's new, but I don't engage much. I log in 2-3 times a day for a few minutes to answer messages and post, and that's it. A sweet middle ground.
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  • Profile picture of the author Artkantos
    It's definitively not worth it, that's why I use automation tools because that way I'm not exposed to the feed, otherwise I would lose my life scrolling...I knew it was bad, but today was a shock haha
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Singletary
    Social media is no different than the Warrior Forum, political news, sports, games, etc. Those and many others could fit into your title. It all comes down to self-discipline and time management. I'm speaking to the guy in the mirror here.

    I think it's okay to spend a little time on any of that, but I've found I've had to say okay I will spend 10 minutes browsing FB or 10 minutes looking at the news. I've found that if I don't put controls on it all, at the end of the day I've "worked" my tail off but didn't really accomplish anything (working meaning at the computer).

    Mark
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  • Profile picture of the author Frank Donovan
    I don't see how you can automate a process and still call it social, but it's in the nature of marketers to seize upon any new platform and try to bend it to their purposes - then complain when the platform puts in restrictions or limitations.
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    Ever lie awake worrying that you might be the only person who doesn't know what FOMO means?

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    • Profile picture of the author Artkantos
      Originally Posted by Frank Donovan View Post

      I don't see how you can automate a process and still call it social, but it's in the nature of marketers to seize upon any new platform and try to bend it to their purposes - then complain when the platform puts in restrictions or limitations.
      Well, it's about making use of a platform or losing yourself in the platform. I'm not complaining btw if someone wants to waste 4 hours a day wasting his/her time on the platform, it's up to them. You can work way more efficiently on Social Media with some tools, filters etcetera
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      • Profile picture of the author savidge4
        Originally Posted by Artkantos View Post

        Well, it's about making use of a platform or losing yourself in the platform. I'm not complaining btw if someone wants to waste 4 hours a day wasting his/her time on the platform, it's up to them. You can work way more efficiently on Social Media with some tools, filters etcetera
        Aside from posting... what work can be done?

        If you pay attention to those that have thriving social media accounts - there is a common thread... its either the person, or a team of persons ON the platform communicating.

        I a bit more than believe... That the time spent on a platform or platforms is far from wasted time - as long as you are not just consuming - responding and commenting is the fastest way to grow your platform reach.

        As an example... you can tell the you tube channel creators that are hungry. Once they post a video they hang out at least an hour or so and respond or at least heart each and every comment. Some go the extra mile and follow this pattern for more than the initial hour or so.

        Social Media is only a time suck if you are engaging in non productive activity... your efforts should be focused specifically to the growth of your account - buy communicating with others.

        Twitter happens to be a minefield of every which direction - but you an search specific terms and clear a good portion of the nonsense and stay within context of what you and your goals are - and communicate with those that you will have an interest in, and who will have an interest in you.

        Again we are talking Social... people remember the time you have taken to respond or at least recognize you have read their comment.

        There is obviously a fine line between time spent, and time wasted - its what you make of your time, and not what your time has made of you.
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        Success is an ACT not an idea
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        • Profile picture of the author Artkantos
          I agree but you need to optimize your way of working on this platform, otherwise, you're gonna be really inefficient... With software like (ie) Tweethunter, you can engage with people in your niche, your followers, comment, respond, tweet etcetera without the feed and other distractions.

          I have tested it and I do the same work, I get the same results but I spend a quarter of the time...Maybe it's me and my ADHD and most people can work on the native platform without a problem IDK

          I think a better name for this thread would be: "Social Media can (and will) suck your life...If you let it" More empowering...And truthful
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  • Profile picture of the author WF- Enzo
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    Of course it will
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  • Profile picture of the author Proof88
    The quality of content has degraded insanely but the addiction factor is still the same. It's also not just Twitter, everywhere you look people try to sell their newsletter subscriptions by making up one shitty story after another.
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  • Profile picture of the author savidge4
    I just saw this quote relevant to this discussion:

    " When something is free, you are the product "


    As GordonJ would suggest, its this type of situation that you would want to implement a "Toll Booth" - meaning, transitioning from a product to a provider - in the sea of products.
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    Success is an ACT not an idea
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    • Profile picture of the author milaa
      the quote you mentioned is completely shows the picture...... the best line. the more you use social medias the more you become addictive and losses focus on so many other important things in life.
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      • Profile picture of the author Artkantos
        Yeah, it has a big Darkside like many other things...But being aware gives you the opportunity to transform that black hole of time into a useful asset for your business.

        Probably not a big discovery for many but my point with this thread is to be aware of all this and prepare before starting to work on a social media platform
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  • Profile picture of the author Jamell
    Comes down to discipline and knowing what you want to do and also having a time frame and cut off time .
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  • Profile picture of the author Kiara @Undertile Heating
    They make everything on social media such a challenge and for what just to create a profile lol things used to be soooooo much easier back then
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    • Profile picture of the author WF- Enzo
      Administrator
      Actually, it's a lot easier now than before.

      For instance, uploading photos and videos on mobiles devices took eons because of then-slow average internet speeds depending on where you live. Back then 3G was considered "fast". Now we all have LTE and 5G.

      Generally it's just much more accessible today at the cost of data privacy AND sanity


      Originally Posted by Kiara @Undertile Heating View Post

      They make everything on social media such a challenge and for what just to create a profile lol things used to be soooooo much easier back then
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  • Profile picture of the author Shawn Gossman
    In all honestly, I only use a third-party tool for Twitter because Twitter doesn't have an easy way to schedule content with a smartphone. I schedule content three times a day on Twitter and FB, two times a day on IG, once a day on TikTok.

    YT is also scheduled every day (3 videos a week, the other days have one short a day, 1 community post a day)

    I keep myself scheduled at least a week in advance. Text content, images, and video. Some promotional/external content.

    Then I focus all my efforts on engagement.

    But if the social network has a scheduling feature good for phones, I'll use theirs.
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    • Profile picture of the author Artkantos
      Originally Posted by Shawn Gossman View Post

      In all honestly, I only use a third-party tool for Twitter because Twitter doesn't have an easy way to schedule content with a smartphone. I schedule content three times a day on Twitter and FB, two times a day on IG, once a day on TikTok.

      YT is also scheduled every day (3 videos a week, the other days have one short a day, 1 community post a day)

      I keep myself scheduled at least a week in advance. Text content, images, and video. Some promotional/external content.

      Then I focus all my efforts on engagement.

      But if the social network has a scheduling feature good for phones, I'll use theirs.
      Native is always better, what third-party tool do you use to schedule Twitter?
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  • Profile picture of the author Serp Solace
    I can attest to this. Especially FB. One second I'll be posting stuff on a business page, next thing i know I've spent 4 hours mindlessly scrolling. the addiction is real!
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    • Profile picture of the author Artkantos
      True story haha that's why "Social Media can (and will) suck your life...If you let it" try to use third-party tools or extensions to block the feeds and other distractions
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  • Profile picture of the author pencil220
    We make everything on social media . you need to optimize your way of working on this platform
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