Rethinking the Tradeoff

Big Tech has breached the White House, and that changes the media landscape for all of us.?

Mark Zuckerberg says that Meta will do away with content moderation, opting instead for a “Community Notes” style feature similar to that of Twitter/X. This amid a pledge to reopen the Facebook floodgates on political and hot-button topics, including carve-outs to allow the proliferation of hate speech, all in the name of “free expression.” Kara Swisher’s recent podcast on moderation’s rise and fall put this into perspective for me, introducing me to the concept of “harrassment as suppression of speech,” which I think is spot-on.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reports recent layoffs at YouTube, mainly managers and experts on content policy. YouTube has long served as a pipeline for the alt right. Over on Twitter/X, the feed has become so inundated with bots, right wing extremism, ads for crypto and sports gambling, and outright pornography, that it becomes practically unusable. Can you imagine if he buys TikTok??

Outside the screen, Zuck lamented to Joe Rogan that corporate America has become too feminized and that it needs more “masculine energy.” And Musk, that salute at the inauguration, goodness.?

They’re certainly not alone. It’s been well-reported that the figures of Big Tech have traveled great distances to kiss the ring of the new administration and pony up big-figure donations.?

What this signals to me is that social media platforms are becoming fully realized as a propaganda arm of their owners’ interests, in terms of money and power. They do not care what it does to us individually or collectively.?

I’m not trying to be alarmist. I’m asking what, at this point, do these social media platforms offer us?

// Practicing social media hygiene //

Forget the political battle lines here. The revolution will not be tweeted.?

Instead, let’s step back and think of our own well-being.?

I could go on about how these companies ruthlessly prey on your data. But lately, I’ve been reflecting more on what we’re all taking in, mentally. Our attention is valuable and finite. That’s why Elon Musk bought Twitter for over $40 billion, and why the outcome of the TikTok situation is so important.?

I’m skeptical of the idea of “scrolling to unwind.” Does scrolling actually make us more relaxed? I’m doubtful. That’s why moving to a better alternative like BlueSky still feels like a half-measure.?

Scaling back is hard. Saying we should all “just stop using social media” may be as powerless as “just say no to drugs” was in the 80’s. However, the “garbage in, garbage out” mantra we so often apply to AI applies to our minds, as well. How freely and for nothing we give away our mental health, attention spans, imagination, and general capacity to let our minds wander.?

You don’t have to go cold turkey. But from time to time, reconsider the impulse to scroll. Every once in a while, take some of yourself back.

Gain some distance from social media

I think it’s a good idea to divest from general-purpose social media platforms like X, Facebook, TikTok, etc. as much as possible. Even if you don’t abandon them entirely, take steps to moderate and mitigate your use.?

Create habit-breaking checkpoints

You could buy a Brick or a Yondr pouch for yourself and/or your family members. Anything to break the reflexive reach for your device. Create designated no-phone timeslots for dinner, walks, board games, or other activities.?

Purge your profiles

Particularly on Facebook, purge your Friends list of people you don’t know directly or deeply. Would it be weird to get a coffee with this person? Can you respectfully disagree with each other? Are they rooting for you, and are you rooting for them? Do you even know them? (I’m laughing, but I’m guilty of this - there was a time in my life where my mantra was, “When in doubt, involve and include,” and I didn’t apply it skillfully with respect to social media)?

In addition to friends, consider removing unnecessary photos of you and your children. Make your profiles as private as possible. And please! Remove your birthday and phone number from your profile if it’s there.

Fact-check your news

Post with care. Online activity may not feel real, but it is a reflection of us and our integrity. Before sharing a headline, check the source and read the actual article. I also think we need to take special care when it comes to sharing outrage.

• For Inc., I wrote about why age-gating social media is a no-brainer. We age gate alcohol, driving, tattoos, marriage, military service, and a million other things in our society. Why should social media be any different??
• Creating household boundaries around smart phone use and social media can be tough. For Forbes, I wrote about finding the middle ground.
• In the fourth part of my social media series, I look down the road that social media has put us on, and ask a few big questions about our future.?
• Kara Swisher’s podcast episode with the founder of Yondr hit home with me, bigtime. In addition to Yondr products, he talks about the philosophical quagmires of tech and social media, and I think he’s spot on.?
• The outgoing Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, delivered a “parting prescription” for the country. In his tenure, Dr. Murthy has beautifully and powerfully performed his duty. His advisories on everything from social media to parenting have underscored what so many of us feel in our daily lives, and I thank him for that.??

Crystal Cassidy is the CEO and founder of SoulPod, an app that provides three-week, personalized meditation journeys that help users cultivate their inner landscape. WLCM is proud to serve SoulPod as its development partner.

Crystal is a spiritual badass, from growing up in competitive martial arts to becoming a certified Reiki Master, breathwork facilitator, meditation guide, and kundalini yoga instructor — plus a background in biotech. It’s been amazing getting to know her and her story. I think the future holds big and bright things for her.

We are BUSY MAKING THINGS over here.?

• We’ve got aggressive timelines, focused teams, and a few new senior-level hires, too.?
• We’re implementing additional code quality computations to run on top of our project management tools; these give our managers at-a-glance measures of team speed and quality.?
• We’re trying to figure out how and how much we can use AI to improve coding efficiency; we’re finding its limits and will stay on the edge of them. This thread on YCombinator provides a good summation of where those limits are; it’s also a fun read.
• We’re working on a niche social media project that I’ll tell you about when it’s time.
• I’m selling Scribbly Books and sometimes feel like I’m running in place.

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