Your Sane Social Principles (SSP) list is pretty much the exact philosophy I adopted back in 2022, after my original IG was hacked and I had to start a new one. It's nice to see it listed in this way. I was already tired of the changes that were happening on socials (the incessant addition of new features, de-emphasizing others, blatant one-sidedness when it's come to censoring certain posts, and so on, that situation really made me reassess how I use social media from that point forward. It's made a wold of difference for me because I'm more in tune with keeping the noise of social media to a minimum in my life.
As a visual artist, I still like using IG (cross posting to FB) and LinkedIn because it does help with getting the word about my work out to a wide range of people. However, with the changes I've made about it mentally, I don't let myself get caught up in the negative aspects, like the algorithm(s) and arguing with people/bots online, a zero sum activity, anyway. I also limit the amount of time I'm spending on those platforms, as well. All of this has contributed to a more healthy relationship with socials, for me.
Hey Tim, thanks for your comment, glad I’m not alone in wanting to use social for promotion but somehow stay away from the negative side effects. Sorry to hear about the hacking, that stinks!
the phishing schemes nowadays are getting more convincing and complicated, I fell for a fake job opportunity recently, fortunately no money or account access was lost but I felt stupid
Yes, phishing schemes are most definitely becoming more sophisticated. Most are still fairly easily recognizable, if you know what to look for, but some are getting harder to detect right away.
Love the list, Dave! Thank you. I will follow it as well. Wouldn't it be nice if Substack could turn the tide for social media sites, becoming the very first one to be not just used but respected? Isn't that what we originally hoped for: spaces to get together and learn from one another? Let's do it our way.
Yes! I think Substack is my favorite platform right now, it has the fewest trolls, most thoughtful people, most genuine interactions, and I feel like I’m most “my true self” here. Hopefully it stays that way!
Amazing list! I’ll subscribe to these principles. And I think you’re spot on with the description of the ideal customer. I’ll keep this in mind while writing on my script which amongst other things talks about the toxic nature of social media.
It's such a hard balance to strike... as a "writer" I need social media to get the word out. But I hate being on social media for anything other than sports news!!!
Another excellent essay Dave! Really enjoying your sharp eye on things.
I am concerned about the "social media" machine. It hacks into some evolved brain programs for better and worse. I wrote about that here if you're interested:
Substack is a clean fresh platform with good folks which I am enjoying, though I worry the Notes section is designed to suck people into the media Matrix more. I've also seen people posting their "summer reading scorecards" which starts to turn the platform into a gamified competition. So your sane practices are especially useful to avoid the dark side.
Thanks Baird, social media does seem to be designed to tap into some of our worst traits. I soft of liked Substack before the "notes wall" as I agree that could easily become twitter-like, but many people have also found my writing via Notes, so right now I'm mostly loving it more than hating it.
I read your post, definitely resonate with the up/down, in/out, status checking implications, it is really hard to escape the hierarchical scorekeeping and status games we tend to play. One must truly make an intentional effort to ignore/escape from them, and "rise above" while still making use of them. Thanks for stopping by.
Great read, Dave. As I read it pulled me back to the curiosity and connection available if I engage with social media the right way. This is the only platform I'm on (besides LinkedIn) and even these can become games optimizing the wrong metrics if I'm not careful. I found this line interesting and it got me thinking about the chicken-and-egg relationship that exists between the type of people who use social media and the type of people we become if we use it too much: "I will likely start exhibiting the traits in this list, as the platforms are uniquely designed to support people with these traits, and I don’t want to be that kind of person." Thanks for sharing 🙏
Hi Jeremy, thanks for stopping by. I'm on Substack, Linkedin, and Twitter, I like them in that order. I also have a dormant IG but don't pay attention there any more. All of them have their own version of vanity metrics, keeping up with Joneses, status games, etc that are frankly hard to avoid, and my "worst self" comes out when I pay too much attention to them.
Regarding chicken&egg, I do believe that social media companies all started out with good intentions, "catch up with long lost friends!" but over time realized they get the most engagement out of our worst impulses, and have since updated their system to optimize towards those behaviors, as that generates clicks, views, and ultimately revenue for them.
Dave this is a fantastic screed. It’s concise, yet comprehensive. And a bullseye. My perspective is identical. I find SM invaluable when the lens of research is applied versus distraction. Research has its steep costs and in today’s age it is perceived as an immediacy. The other costs to research is wander or drift - many rabbit holes exist, some wasteful, others lucrative. Even the wasteful are not as they provide elimination or something to interrogate later. The trouble with SM is that it might challenge our many biases and run us off-kilter. For me it opens up portals to the invisible my pursuit, for many months, is “verboten” books. There are many. It’s neither for the weak nor the meek. And I use Brave for all searches and Signal for all communications. My $0.02. Well done mate!
Absolutely love your take on this! It really puts things into perspective. I love your principles 😊 I too have always had a love hate relationship with social media and often need longer hiatuses (the algorithm hates me haha) but being off it completely also doesn’t seem like a permanent long-term solution either. Will be abiding by your principles 😃
Thanks Danae, yeah a legit option is to just delete them off your phone and go live in the real world. I actually prefer this option, but I'm also trying to make a living doing stuff virtually, so I sort of have to use them to some degree. So in that case, I have to be as "sane" as possible. Thanks for reading!
Thanks Theo, glad you liked it. And I think your strategy to separate business from personal makes sense. I suppose it depends on your goals, but these 2 arenas do seem to have different incentives, audiences, and reasons for promotion. I've made this separation as well, right now I do business blogging/newsletter at my consulting biz on Ghost platform: https://www.neworbitmarketing.com and this Substack is more my personal stuff, although I'm more excited about my personal stuff here than the business, which is about branding/marketing. I'm struggling to think of things to write about over there that haven't already been written 1000 times by someone else. So I'm putting more effort here at the moment, as I feel like I have more interesting personal things to say.
Your Sane Social Principles (SSP) list is pretty much the exact philosophy I adopted back in 2022, after my original IG was hacked and I had to start a new one. It's nice to see it listed in this way. I was already tired of the changes that were happening on socials (the incessant addition of new features, de-emphasizing others, blatant one-sidedness when it's come to censoring certain posts, and so on, that situation really made me reassess how I use social media from that point forward. It's made a wold of difference for me because I'm more in tune with keeping the noise of social media to a minimum in my life.
As a visual artist, I still like using IG (cross posting to FB) and LinkedIn because it does help with getting the word about my work out to a wide range of people. However, with the changes I've made about it mentally, I don't let myself get caught up in the negative aspects, like the algorithm(s) and arguing with people/bots online, a zero sum activity, anyway. I also limit the amount of time I'm spending on those platforms, as well. All of this has contributed to a more healthy relationship with socials, for me.
Thanks for posting this!
Hey Tim, thanks for your comment, glad I’m not alone in wanting to use social for promotion but somehow stay away from the negative side effects. Sorry to hear about the hacking, that stinks!
Yeah, the hacking was annoying, in part, because it was my fault-I responded to a dm that I had no business responding to due to being distracted.
I knew better by that point, but in the moment my rational through process was on vacation. Another lesson learned about being more mindful.
the phishing schemes nowadays are getting more convincing and complicated, I fell for a fake job opportunity recently, fortunately no money or account access was lost but I felt stupid
Yes, phishing schemes are most definitely becoming more sophisticated. Most are still fairly easily recognizable, if you know what to look for, but some are getting harder to detect right away.
Love the list, Dave! Thank you. I will follow it as well. Wouldn't it be nice if Substack could turn the tide for social media sites, becoming the very first one to be not just used but respected? Isn't that what we originally hoped for: spaces to get together and learn from one another? Let's do it our way.
Yes! I think Substack is my favorite platform right now, it has the fewest trolls, most thoughtful people, most genuine interactions, and I feel like I’m most “my true self” here. Hopefully it stays that way!
And mainstream media’s ideal customer too!
yeah they are not too different, although I’d add other things to the MSM list eg “ideologically trapped”
Oh yes 100% agree with that
Amazing list! I’ll subscribe to these principles. And I think you’re spot on with the description of the ideal customer. I’ll keep this in mind while writing on my script which amongst other things talks about the toxic nature of social media.
cool glad you like it, I think many people are starting to realize how toxic it can be
It's such a hard balance to strike... as a "writer" I need social media to get the word out. But I hate being on social media for anything other than sports news!!!
I hear you, I need it too, and it’s free so sometimes I feel like I can’t complain, but it does often make me miserable!
Excellent advice, thanks.
Another excellent essay Dave! Really enjoying your sharp eye on things.
I am concerned about the "social media" machine. It hacks into some evolved brain programs for better and worse. I wrote about that here if you're interested:
https://bairdbrightman.substack.com/p/social-media-addiction-as-compulsive
Substack is a clean fresh platform with good folks which I am enjoying, though I worry the Notes section is designed to suck people into the media Matrix more. I've also seen people posting their "summer reading scorecards" which starts to turn the platform into a gamified competition. So your sane practices are especially useful to avoid the dark side.
Thanks Baird, social media does seem to be designed to tap into some of our worst traits. I soft of liked Substack before the "notes wall" as I agree that could easily become twitter-like, but many people have also found my writing via Notes, so right now I'm mostly loving it more than hating it.
I read your post, definitely resonate with the up/down, in/out, status checking implications, it is really hard to escape the hierarchical scorekeeping and status games we tend to play. One must truly make an intentional effort to ignore/escape from them, and "rise above" while still making use of them. Thanks for stopping by.
""rise above" while still making use of them"
Exactly!
Great read, Dave. As I read it pulled me back to the curiosity and connection available if I engage with social media the right way. This is the only platform I'm on (besides LinkedIn) and even these can become games optimizing the wrong metrics if I'm not careful. I found this line interesting and it got me thinking about the chicken-and-egg relationship that exists between the type of people who use social media and the type of people we become if we use it too much: "I will likely start exhibiting the traits in this list, as the platforms are uniquely designed to support people with these traits, and I don’t want to be that kind of person." Thanks for sharing 🙏
Hi Jeremy, thanks for stopping by. I'm on Substack, Linkedin, and Twitter, I like them in that order. I also have a dormant IG but don't pay attention there any more. All of them have their own version of vanity metrics, keeping up with Joneses, status games, etc that are frankly hard to avoid, and my "worst self" comes out when I pay too much attention to them.
Regarding chicken&egg, I do believe that social media companies all started out with good intentions, "catch up with long lost friends!" but over time realized they get the most engagement out of our worst impulses, and have since updated their system to optimize towards those behaviors, as that generates clicks, views, and ultimately revenue for them.
Dave this is a fantastic screed. It’s concise, yet comprehensive. And a bullseye. My perspective is identical. I find SM invaluable when the lens of research is applied versus distraction. Research has its steep costs and in today’s age it is perceived as an immediacy. The other costs to research is wander or drift - many rabbit holes exist, some wasteful, others lucrative. Even the wasteful are not as they provide elimination or something to interrogate later. The trouble with SM is that it might challenge our many biases and run us off-kilter. For me it opens up portals to the invisible my pursuit, for many months, is “verboten” books. There are many. It’s neither for the weak nor the meek. And I use Brave for all searches and Signal for all communications. My $0.02. Well done mate!
Thanks Richard, I hear you on the research vs distraction thing, I tend to start with research but then can quickly fall into distraction!
Sometimes that is the price, but more often the research is non-linear. Takes time to dev that discipline. Indeed it is always a challenge.
Absolutely love your take on this! It really puts things into perspective. I love your principles 😊 I too have always had a love hate relationship with social media and often need longer hiatuses (the algorithm hates me haha) but being off it completely also doesn’t seem like a permanent long-term solution either. Will be abiding by your principles 😃
Thanks Danae, yeah a legit option is to just delete them off your phone and go live in the real world. I actually prefer this option, but I'm also trying to make a living doing stuff virtually, so I sort of have to use them to some degree. So in that case, I have to be as "sane" as possible. Thanks for reading!
Wow! One of the best articles I’ve read. Sad but true, you perfectly captured the ideal social media audience
Thanks Burt, when I really sat down to think this through, I came to the same ”sad but true” conclusion.
Is this a sort of “tag yourself” orr
Thanks Theo, glad you liked it. And I think your strategy to separate business from personal makes sense. I suppose it depends on your goals, but these 2 arenas do seem to have different incentives, audiences, and reasons for promotion. I've made this separation as well, right now I do business blogging/newsletter at my consulting biz on Ghost platform: https://www.neworbitmarketing.com and this Substack is more my personal stuff, although I'm more excited about my personal stuff here than the business, which is about branding/marketing. I'm struggling to think of things to write about over there that haven't already been written 1000 times by someone else. So I'm putting more effort here at the moment, as I feel like I have more interesting personal things to say.