WAKING UP TO SOCIAL MEDIA
I started with my current company sixteen years ago. With sales as one of my responsibilities I thought I’d expand beyond LinkedIn and try Facebook. I remember setting up my account, stepping away to grab a snack and returning to many individuals reaching out to “friend me.” Some of the names I recognized and some I did not, maybe I was technically slow (tried Twitter and just never got it) old or just lazy, but the thought of managing these new hip social media platforms seemed awkward and I didn’t even know most of the people reaching out to be my “friend.”
So I shut it down and never looked back. We have SALESFORCE, I have phones and a pc, reached out, went to events and low and behold, we grew and are still surviving today on “old school” methods of cold calling and getting to know people. Sure, LinkedIn helps, it’s business focused so it provides value, but it’s not a main driver for our business, but it helps.
I’ll tell you, I have watched my daughter embrace and then wisely withdrawal from Facebook when her anxiety increased. Witnessed friendships lost and family feuds started through it, and have sat back and waited for a week like this past week.
I now list Frances Haugen as one of my hero’s. Her whistleblowing testimony to congress this week laid out what many of us (users & non-users) have suspected for sometime; Facebook has been manipulating for profits over safety for a long time, and my queasy, early vibes were correct.
In a world that seems to have embraced and accepted lies, deceptions and “alternative truth,” and you wonder if an honest person will ever come forward, Ms Haugen was a breath of fresh air.
Of course, as I read some of the posts on YouTube, the conspiracies that she’s a Big Government plant, it’s a scheme to control, turn us socialist, whatever, I see there is a long way to go for many of us. I’m sure the same was echoed about cigarette smoking and wearing seatbelts, but look at the lives saved with proper regulations.
Hey, don’t get me wrong, I’m not an advocate for over-regulating, there are some crazy Regs on businesses and industries that should be challenged and deregulated, but when the proof lies before our eyes, when we see the divisions in our country, the issues with teenaged women, the obvious promotion of fear and conflict to sell a few ads, I’d say it’s time for regulation.
All social media isn’t bad, Facebook could be great and as Ms. Haugen pointed out it can be more humanistic and safe, so why not? With more money than many countries, when is enough, enough, huh, Facebook?
Here’s the thing, in the end, it is the people who make or break these platforms. Social Media can serve a great purpose, I think Medium is a great example, people sharing diverse ideas and valuable information, but we can’t say the same for all. We need beware that these sites play to our worst impulses. It is contributing to a host of anxiety disorders:
Maybe it’s time that many of us take a look at precious time wasted, anger fueled, egos inflamed and hate triggered towards people we barely know, and just say no to platforms like Facebook, if we drop them, their stock price drops, and we keep learning more from people like Frances Haugen, then I pray to God that we have just witnessed step one in a new and better direction. That we push away greed, ego, and FOMO, and do the right thing, dump FB and all the conspiracy sites, come completely out of this pandemic and get to know and respect one another and learn from one another. Lord, that would be the world you envisioned.
The truth is, and really ask yourself this, do we really need Facebook? I took an economics class a long time ago and the question came up, “what if they just end the tobacco industry.” I said to the professor, “even though I don’t smoke and wouldn’t mind that happening, what about people losing their jobs, I wouldn’t want to see that?” He responded, keep in mind this was a conservative man from SC, “If tobacco goes away, don’t you think something else will come along? It’s just the circle of business.”
I’m sure Facebook serves value, but we seem to be at a point where the bad outweighs the good, so time for action. The power is in our hands and we don’t even know it, dump Facebook until they get it right, or something better, safer and more ethical comes along, because that’s the circle of business. Time to wake up, thank you Frances!
