Make Sure You Have Something to Say
It’s safe to say that most of us are guilty of sharing or posting because we feel like we have to.
We have fallen into the trap of posting and sharing bits of our lives or businesses on social media without any real thought.
We are bombarded with hustle culture rhetoric like “Post on every platform! Post 3 times per day! Send a weekly newsletter! Repurpose content! Film a YouTube video! Make a TikTok! Add Reels and stories to your Instagram!, etc.”
In trying to keep up with the digital Jones’ of the world, sometimes we are losing ourselves.
I have a simple solution, make sure you have something to say.
History Proves My Point
Before the advent of social media, media was produced and consumed at a much slower pace. I’ve spoken about this before.
Another point I’m keen to make is that there was more thought and intention behind the creation of that media.
As I begin to detox from social media and truly study the great writers and artists of previous generations, I notice that the work they put out into the world was based on practice.
I mean an actual practice. They would study, practice, live, practice, and on and on. Some of the greatest works of art and literature were produced out of practice or routine. They were not created for shares, likes, or hearts.
Creating Room
If we’re going to base this theory on artists of previous generations, we must also assume they had the mental space or room for their thoughts to form and bloom.
It’s true that a lot of great writers were also great readers. The same is true of musicians who listen to great music. The list of creators goes on in such a fashion. To be great at something one must be a student of the genre.
In theory, to be great one must spend time with the works that came before them. Study them. Know them. Learn from them. And that is difficult to do in the age of social media.
When 300 hours of YouTube content is uploaded daily and 5 billion hours are watched, it’s quite difficult to create room let alone find the time for much else.
The total number of people who use YouTube — 1,300,000,000. 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute! Almost 5 billion videos are watched on Youtube every single day. YouTube gets over 30 million visitors per day
YouTube is but one of the social giants. If that platform is not your vice, choose one from the list: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Snapchat, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Twtich, Reddit, and on and on.
The point I’m trying to make is that we are constantly given media to consume. We rarely, if ever, have time to hear our own thoughts, form our own opinion, and bring those ideas to life.
In finding something to say, we must first be able to create the room to think for ourselves.
Create With Intention
Now that we have cleared away the clutter, we can begin to form ideas and create with intention.
Everything does not have to be a grand thought piece. Every work of art does not have to be a masterpiece. But when sharing something of value with the world, there should be some thought or intention behind it.
When we are always posting on social media sometimes it feels like there is no real intention behind the postings. It feels like one giant half of an idea that has been spread out over the week or month so that it can seem somewhat consistent.
When you have something to say, it can be elaborated on, broken down, shortened, lengthened. There is a substance that can be expanded or contracted as needed.
I don’t want to be remembered as someone who was great at social media. I want to be remembered as an artist.
When I’m gone I want one person to look at some of the things I wrote or created and say, this was made on purpose. This was made to provoke thought or discussion. This was made with intention.
Sharing With Purpose
To round out this idea, once you have studied, practiced, created the space, and now created the work with intention, it can then be shared for consumption and digestion.
I have nothing against social media. The major platforms have their issues, but I have no agenda against big tech.
Instead, I think the problem lies with the individual. I noticed that I was spending a lot of time mindlessly scrolling and “consuming” work from others without actual thought. And I didn’t like it.
I was a part of the trap of posting to stay relevant and keep up with the algorithms. Then I realized that I couldn’t remember what I had just seen. My attention span was dwindling. I was losing a grip on my self-control.
It sounds like I was having an existential crisis, but really I was just fed up with myself and my habits. I didn’t like who I was becoming. So I decided to make a conscious effort to change.
I no longer want to share to stay relevant. I want to share with purpose. I want to have something to say. This way, when I do say something, hopefully, others will listen and it will provoke thought.
Originally published at https://www.itslarryg.com on February 15, 2022.
