Social Insecurity

The experiment did not last long. The idea was to do what a lot of people proclaim they're doing but don't: lay off social media for a week or two. It's been a stressful time, and Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, while valuable in some ways, do not always, as Marie Kondo would say, bring me joy. (Neither do TikTok or Clubhouse, but I'm not on those enough to be stressed.) The conundrum was that I kinda need to be on social media for business. That led to me compromising the entire experiment by scaling it back: I'd check my news feeds and timelines, but only occasionally and without posting anything myself. That's hardly a boycott, but it was the best I was gonna do.

And I couldn't even stick to that, though I tried. I posted very little, other than the promos for my column. I didn't check it that often. Less commentary, fewer "jokes," less doomscrolling. I told myself that even a tiny reduction in social media consumption would be a good thing, noble even, especially with the Sixers in the playoffs and the intense urge to post something about Danny Green being unable to guard Trey Young hanging over me. Limited restraint, I reasoned, is better than no restraint at all. If I found myself less attached to my phone, it would be a victory.

It's been a couple of weeks now. I did post some stuff, but I'm staying away for longer and longer periods. The results:

1. My Twitter follower count dropped.
2. I'm still stressed.
3. I might be a little less stressed than I was before.
4. But I'm still a little stressed, and I think the stress of not knowing if I'm missing something has partially replaced the stress of reading idiotic arguments and political news.
5. I think I missed posting "Happy Birthday!" to hundreds of Facebook friends.
6. I don't think my Facebook friends missed me posting "Happy Birthday!" at all.
7. I don't think my Facebook friends remember that I'm their Facebook friend.
8. Ben Simmons and Matisse Thybulle are now guarding Trae Young.
9. I haven't posted anything about Ben Simmons and Matisse Thybulle guarding Trae Young.
10. I haven't posted anything (yet) that might get me into trouble.

The result, I suppose, is that even a small reduction in social media use has been positive. I waste less time reading irrelevant stuff, I don't read quite as many posts that aggravate me... it's just a tad calmer. A tad is better than nothing.

Which brings me to a question for radio and podcast personalities, if I may encroach on Lori Lewis' domain for a moment: What are you posting on social media, and why? There's engagement with your listeners, sure, and some of you are "building your brand." You also get some personal pleasure out of telling the world what's on your mind, but that's what probably drives most people's posts. But you've been told to be active on social media, and so you are, generating a lot of content, whether it's reposting cat videos or political memes or writing original thoughts or posting thoughts you think are original but aren't. All good, right? You're out there on another platform, growing your following. What could possibly go wrong?

You know what can go wrong. A joke that falls flat, an opinion that gets roasted, an innocent remark that turns into trouble. Careers have been torpedoed over a single ill-advised tweet.

That's not the only concern. It might not even be what YOU write. As I've noted before, radio talk hosts can post something totally benign on Facebook, and their followers will turn the comments section into something that a competitors can use as a sales weapon."See?," they'll say. "Their listeners are the kind of people you don't want in your stores." The comments from listeners on your Facebook posts might even make you not want them as listeners. It can be that bad.

Social media content is, largely, not workshopped before posting. While there may be research on what kind of content does and does not work, I haven't seen it and, judging by what I see posted, I doubt the people posting that stuff are privy to any research at all anyway. It's one significant difference between broadcast and print media and the new media like social, podcasts, streaming, and a lot of websites: Traditional media researched everything (sometimes to a fault) to make sure that whatever went out would have maximum positive impact. Whether it worked or not, at least the thought was there. Now, there are few to no filters. You can have a thought and post it in seconds, unedited, nobody to say "wait a minute, do you really want to say that?," raw and immediate. If your career is in the media, that's both freeing and dangerous.

After my weeks of relative inactivity on social media, I don't know that I can honestly say that the answer is to stay away from it. You don't NEED Twitter or Facebook, but they DO have value, and as stressful as they can be, the benefits -- listener engagement, immediate news bulletins, family and friend connections, cat videos -- outweigh the negatives -- stress, stupidity, spreading of lies and propaganda. I think the way to handle social media is two-fold:

1. Use it less.
2. Stop and think before you post. Ask yourself if this is necessary or original. Ask yourself if it's up to your standards. Ask yourself exactly WHY you've written that. Ask yourself what reaction you're likely to get, and whether you even WANT that reaction associated with your name. And if your answers are satisfactory, THEN post away. There's no reward for being first with a tweet (unless you're Adam Schefter, Woj, or Shams), so a minute or two of reflection won't hurt you. Might save your job, though.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter, though. You KNOW I'll fall off the wagon and go back to posting a lot. And I gotta make up for those lost followers somehow....

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Another reminder that I'll be at Podcast Movement moderating Audioboom's panel on the pros and cons of being affiliated with a podcast network, alongside Audioboom's Brendan Regan. It's August 3-6 in Nashville and there are early bird discounts and virtual options should you not be able or willing to travel; here's the registration link. The over/under on side trips to Prince's or Hattie B's is two.

Perry Michael Simon
Vice President/Editor, News-Talk-Sports and Podcast
AllAccess.com
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