Take Charge of Your Social Media Life

You do not have to abandon Social Media to get some peace.

You just need to create your own experience.

Of course, it can be addictive. Of course, people use it to complain, spread negativity, and perpetuate disinformation, just like they always have done.

Now, they do it more publicly and efficiently.

That is all the reason to stay involved.

Of course, this is preaching to the choir. You are on LinkedIn because you are a professional and you are here to use the medium productively.

But what about the chattier services? Can they be used for a higher purpose?

Have you ever heard someone say, I am leaving Facebook. There's just too much drama, there's too much negativity, there's too much political discourse. I'm tired of it.

I am leaving Facebook.

I'm leaving Twitter.

I'm leaving this, that, or the other.

To me, that's like saying, "I am leaving Starbucks. There's too much negativity. The conversations are all about things I'm not interested in. There's too much drama."

I say, what Facebook or other social media are you reading?

And I think, what table at Starbucks are you sitting at? Because at my table or on my Facebook, it's positive. There are interesting conversations with interesting positive people. They're people that uplift. There are people that pray for me and support me, and people that I pray for and support.

And there's joy and there're funny stories, and they're cute memes, and there are insightful articles that I get links to that I can read on my own. And I, I hear great music that people pass on. And at Starbucks, I have great conversations with people. And when I want to be alone, I read my own books and take my own time.

What Facebook are you on that you would have a negative time and the only answer for you would be to leave? I have a suggestion for you.

Are you ready for it?

Here it is. Don't leave Facebook. Make your own Facebook. Make your own Facebook.

Make Your Own Social Media!

Because on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and TikTok and on every social media, it's your face that matters. When you smile, you'll find someone smiling back at you. It's just like life. It's just a different coffee shop or a different gathering place. It is a different street corner, but it is all about people.

And if you don't like people, then maybe you should find a hole somewhere and crawl into it. But I would suggest that you make your own social media experience and show your own face.

Here is my face.

At least it's the one I'm showing you or the two that I'm showing you today. And the face that you show is the face people see, and the face people see is the face that people respond to. So as you are building your own social media community on your own platform, remember how you show your face, uh, will help determine the kinds of faces that you see. But I have some practical suggestions for you.

You have heard people say, "Don't show your face around here."

And we, we spent several years wearing masks and now we're taking them off and we're showing. But we did learn to see smiles in people's eyes. Didn't you? I did.

I often commented, "That's a nice smile in your eyes."

In the video, I have a slide with empty faces. How do we fill in the empty places and the empty spaces and the empty faces so that we have human expression and human interaction?

Here is what I think can help you to determine that your social media platform reflects what you are looking for.

Less drama, less negativity, more helpful conversation, and more positivity.

Show your face and set the pace.

Take Charge!

Take charge of your CONTACTS.

If you will take charge of your social media experience, the first thing you need to do as you create your own social media on the platforms that already exist is take charge of your contacts. Now, I'm open to as many contacts as I can get. I have a, a love for people and I enjoy a big community.

But by and large, all of my contacts are great folks. I screen to make sure they are real and they're not selling something that I do not want to buy or that is offensive to me. But once they're in, I set the pace with the way that I greet them and the way that I meet them.

If I find that the posts are negative that I'm reading, I don't comment or I may pass over them. I don't put a, like, I don't put a frown. I don't put anything down. I just ignore it. And the algorithms take care of the rest. I see fewer of those negative comments.

I don't get into arguments and therefore I am not drawn into arguments. That is the magic of the experience that you choose your contacts initially. At least once a year, I stay in contact with all my contacts. I send the greeting and I determine the wording. And that helps to determine the response. So take charge of your contacts. I use a test. I call it the benefit test. And here's what I'm looking for.

The Benefit Test

Will this contact be of benefit to me in some way? Can I learn from them? We know that humanity is fearfully and wonderfully made, and we can almost always benefit from contact, but maybe not always all the time. So I may choose my contacts based upon the benefit test of how that might benefit me.

But I'm not just choosing them for how they benefit me. Maybe I am accepting a contact because I think that I might be of some benefit or encouragement to them. And that is a strong motivator in my life. By the way, if it is a strong motivator in your life, it will make your social media experience more positive. I come to social media primarily to give, but then I also receive.

And that's a principle of life that as you give, you receive and you cannot negate that principle.

Take charge of your CONTENT.

The second thing you need to take charge of and I try to take charge of is my content. Therefore I post positive, uplifting content, informational content, interesting content.

Sometimes I share about my struggles, but not in a way that is hateful or mean.

I try very carefully, just like in my conversation with people, not to speak ill of people, not to downgrade people, not to disrespect people, not to think the worst of people, but to think the best of people.

By the content you post, you set the pace for the responses you receive. If I receive a negative response, it will not draw me into an argument. I may either, say something in response that diverts attention away from it, or I may say something that dilutes it or I may say something that gives perspective on it. I may acknowledge the person's feelings and their right to feel that way.

But if they post something abusive to someone I know, I simply delete it without comment or hide it.

You take charge of your content. You are in charge of your content on social media.

Take charge of your COGNITION.

Then take charge of your thinking. Think before you write and reread what you have written before you push the post button.

Always be in control of your own thinking. You can't control your feelings. You can uplift your feelings with your thinking, but you can also decide what you are going to spend the most time thinking about using your powers of cognition.

Now you say "This sounds a lot like living, doesn't it?"

Well, it is.

Social media is just another platform for living. It may be virtual living, but there are real people out there reading and posting.

They are real people with real feelings.

Sometimes you get a chance to meet them in person.

You can take charge of your cognition and your thinking will inform your whole body and your emotions to have a better attitude and a better life and a better experience.

You do through these three things and you will create your credibility and you will create a culture and you will build a community for your own social media platform on the larger platform.

It will make a difference in your experience. You don't need to leave, you just need to create a new social media around your own values and it will put the appropriate expressions on the faces of people the people with whom you wish to interact.

Let people be people. Let us see your face, your real face.

Be a real person relating to real people and caring about people.

I will guarantee you, you do not need to leave Facebook or any other platform.

You just need to make your own experience because it is your face that counts.

Stay in Touch:?My LinkTree . Coaching/Mentoring :?Schedule time with me. For coaching and mentoring, the first consultation is complimentary.