070 – 7 Reasons You Shouldn’t “do” Social Media [Spark Infinity]

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Okay, so you’ve decided that social media growth is for you. You’re committed to the process, and you’ve started putting effort into it. But should you be doing social media at all? It sounds like a dreadful existential question, but knowing why you shouldn’t be putting any time into it might just strengthen all the reasons why you decided to engage in the first place. So, let’s delve into “7 reasons you shouldn’t ‘do’ social media.” Download the PDF Transcript Sponsors: Productivity, Performance & Profits Blackbook: Get a free copy of the “Definitive Guide to Productivity for Artists and Entrepreneurs.” The Renegade Musician: David’s magnum opus on building an independent music career is here! Highlights: 00:17 – Today’s topic 00:41 – Let’s avoid “purgatory infinity” 01:50 – It’s one more thing you have to get good at 05:06 – Social media is a horrible hobby 06:30 – Social media is addicting 08:57 – An open invitation to the comparison game 10:59 – Social media may not be the solution 15:13 – Social media sets false expectations 17:44 – There isn’t a guaranteed effort-to-reward ratio 19:28 – Closing thoughts Transcript: Welcome to Spark Infinity Office Hours. This is David Andrew Wiebe and it is October 10th, 2024. Today's presentation is seven reasons you shouldn't do social media. Do is in quotes for a reason. I'm not going to explain that reason, but if you pay careful attention to this presentation to the very end, I think you'll figure out why I'm not here to burst anyone's bubble, the reason Spark Infinity and this team and this group exists because we have that common goal of wanting to grow on social media. So today I'm not going to be discussing reasons to quit. That's not what this is about, but we need to remember that if you're going to say yes to something, you're saying no to other things as well. And being mindful of that choice and that trade off is really important in life. I also think it's a really good intellectual exercise to explore arguments against whatever your chosen path is, because it facilitates critical thinking and it helps you refine your beliefs. Ultimately, I want everyone involved, including myself, the participants or the leaders in Spark Infinity, as well as the viewers to be in Spark Infinity mode, not Spark Purgatory mode or Purgatory Infinity, that sounds even worse. That's not what we want. We want to see and get results and to put effort into things that do get results. So let's move into those reasons. Number one, it's one more thing you have to get good at. If you're already good at several things or a couple of things, or maybe just one thing, whether that's guitar or taking photos or programming, whatever it might be, if you're already good at one thing or a couple of things or three things, remember, if you want to get results with social media, that's one more thing you've got to add to the plate and actually get good at to get results. Author and blogger Seth Godin was getting started as a blogger in the early days of the internet. If he had chosen to, he could have had first mover advantage on Twitter and he was considering it. He decided against it. He saw it as one more thing he would have to get good at. Trying to get good at more things he felt would have diluted his focus. He opted to focus on his writing, thereby increasing his chances of becoming the best in writing, or at least in his category. The term best might be subjective here, but I think Seth Godin's influence speaks for himself. For a long time, if you put the term Seth into Google, he was the first result that showed up. May not be anymore, but he's definitely in the top 10 results still. And he's probably one of the people that has influenced more thought leaders on the internet than anyone else. Ironically, it's interesting. I don't know why no one seems to want to point this out, but Seth is on Twitter slash X.