Lesson Thirty: Social Media

This is Lesson Thirty of the Simple & Calm course. Today’s lesson is all about social media and how we can simplify our usage and bring more calm whilst on the platforms. This course is for paid subscribers only, but if you’d like to enrol and get immediate access to this lesson, and all previous lessons, then you can upgrade your subscription by clicking the button below. I’d love to help you live a simpler and calmer life.

We are currently working through Module 6: Technology & Social Media. To catch up on the course so far, here’s the link to the first 5 modules:

Ah social media. It’s a tricky subject to talk about. Some of us love it, some of us absolutely loathe it, and there’s plenty of us that sit somewhere in the middle too.

If you were to imagine a sliding scale, with one end being that you really dislike a social media platform, and the other end where you absolutely love it, where would you sit?

I suppose it depends which social media platform you’re referring to as to where you’ll sit on the scale.

Here’s where I think I’d sit for Instagram:

I’d be all the way to the left for Facebook, and I’d be the majority of the way to the right for Substack.

I don’t HATE Instagram, I’m just not that bothered by it anymore. I used to love Instagram, and it allowed me to build my print business quickly and successfully before and during the pandemic. Now, however, I have different priorities.

I’ve written a few posts about social media before which I think you’d find useful:

• The Downfall of Instagram

• What if the internet had opening hours?

• Substack Notes is a rebellious movement

Right now I’m in a period of my life where I want to read long form content. I want to really engage with like minded people who understand me, and with whom I share common interests. I want to be able to put effort in to a platform and to be rewarded by being shown to my audience. Right now that platform for me is Substack.

What platform is your priority right now?

I work with many clients as part of my Virtual Assistant services who still find immense value in Facebook groups and showing up daily on Instagram Stories. I still enjoy creating content for those platforms as part of my services, but for me, at this point in my life, I don’t need to be on there. A) because I’m getting all of my traffic from Substack itself, and B) I don’t have the time to use other platforms fully.

These platforms are incredibly useful, and should absolutely be utilised DEPENDING on what results you want from them. Being on all of the platforms just for the sake of it is not a good use of time or your energy, and will not lead to growth and success. Trust me. I know.

So, how do we simplify our social media usage so that it brings us more calm?