The Social Networking Blues
I’ve come to a conclusion. I have the Social Networking Blues. All of this information bombarding my brain every time I go on Twitter or Facebook is having some pretty negative effects on me. It’s caused me to loose interest in my own websites for one thing. I’ve also found that I’m feeling pretty depressed lately and I know that these sites have a lot to do with it. Reading about all of these people’s lives get’s me to comparing mine to theirs and that’s never any good.
I enjoy following my family and friends, but to follow all of these other people who I will most likely never meet gets to be to much. Do I really care that so and so just got a new camera? Or that What’s His Name is going on a trip to someplace I’ll never go? Or that somebody else is eating breakfast while their dog is asleep at their feet? I’ve lived 40 years without knowing all of this stuff, why is it so important now? It’s not.
It’s cool that I’ve been able to make a few new friends through Twitter and get reacquainted with some old friends through Facebook. It’s also cool that my ebook on Bishop Creek sold like crazy in Sept due to Twitter and Facebook. But the negative effects of to much information have now set in and I have to take a break.
So, to all my Twitter and Facebook friends, you won’t be seeing me on those sites as much. I’ll still check my Facebook page once a day, but I’m taking a major hiatus from Twitter. I may even leave Twitter completely since it’s the biggest source of information overload.
If you still want to follow what’s going on with me the best place is right here on SierraVisions and on SBDigitialArts.
I guess that’s all for now :-)
I’ll leave you with some words of wisdom from Mr. Jimmy Buffett,
“It’s alright to be crazy, just don’t let it drive you nuts.”
Dude – I hear you. I hardly ever look at my facebook page anymore – in fact I hardly know how to use it – it’s lately been taken over by postings from other friends – I’m not even part of the conversation now. As for Twitter I’ve never even been on it – yours or anybody else’s. Who’s got the time? And as you eloquently say, who needs to know what so and so had for breakfast yesterday. I’m sure there’s not much I can say to help about feeling depressed – I get that way too. There’s always people that are doing better than we are. On the other hand I passed some homeless folks on the way to work today and was reminded that I have nothing to complain about right now. Just know these feelings will pass. And you are right – stopping visits to your social networking sites will probably help it pass sooner.
Thanks Karl. Not going to those sites yesterday was like a whole new freedom. The minute I decided that I’d had enough a heaviness lifted from me. It was pretty awesome.
Hey There…
The difference between those contacts and this forum is your passion about what you believe. Comparing is how “Keeping up with the “Jone’s” got alot of people in finacial trouble and alot of unhappiness. You created this website to share with others your love of the outdoors in the Sierra’s and then life’s journey took you to new places with new people. Not a bad thing just different. Did you ever consider how many of those fools missed watching sunrise from the Sierra Crest you drove when you were delivering newspapers to Mammoth?? Or the first snowflake falling on your windsheild where you could see the pattern?? Suck it up Steven…those folks aren’t what you are about…its the details that matter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks Susan. You’re totally right.
I echo your sentiments and those of Karl and Susan J completely.
Thankfully, I quit Twitter almost immediately. Except when you were on your road trip and sent us periodic updates, it seemed like a total waste of time and energy.
Facebook has become way too entangling, and now, I feel like I need a photo page there as well as on Flickr because everyone has a photo page to collect “fans” along with their personal profile where they collect “friends.” Is all this really necessary? So far, so time-consuming and mentally draining.
I have to say, it felt SO good when I was on the road and away from all this. Then I’d go back to the motel room and turn on the PC. Always, there was WAY TO MUCH INFORMATION to process so I could get caught up on everyone’s “news.” At some point, I just let go and hit the hay so I could dream about my next day’s shoot.
As a result, I have now removed most of my “friends” from my newsfeed/livefeed on Facebook so I can keep in touch with those I really care about, especially those who share like interests and may have something useful to say. I love meeting new people, sharing ideas, etc., but you are SO right when you say it can be frustrating because it pulls you away from what you love most about your life.
Like you, I truly do not care that someone cooked 100 enchiladas and cupcakes in an afternoon and then was depressed because there was no one there to eat them. Or that someone’s scrapbooking efforts ended up in the toilet literally because a pack of wild hyenas ran through their million dollar estate.
Does my world really improve because I’m learning far more intimate personal details about my photography heroes than I really need to know? “The kids are asleep and I’m sitting here watching TV and drinking a beer…” Who CARES!!! What did you do to make a difference in the world today? Step over the cat on your way to the bathroom???
Sure, there are benefits in connecting with other like-minded artists. But what does more for one’s creativity? Working on your own images, or a website or a personal blog, etc., or keeping up with everyone’s mostly trivial daily posts?
You’ve inspired me with this post, so I’m glad I saw it. (An example of one that’s VERY worthwhile!) I think I’m going to go on a social networking diet. Really cut down on my Facebook posts and see what happens. Twitter, I got out of with no problems. Facebook may require some withdrawal pains. But until I get my own website, my energies need to go into my Flickr endeavors and my blog. And most importantly, continue working on my writing and photography. After all, I do hope to make money at it!
Thanks so much for sharing what you’ve been feeling about all this, Steven. You have a lot of folks out here who feel your pain and want to have the courage to pursue what yields the most bang for their social networking buck. Personally, I would much rather be out in Nature than sitting behind a computer watching others live out their online lives.
Ooops! Sorry it was such a long post. Guess I was on quite a rant… :-{
No worries. Love your comments Kahlee.
I’ve also removed many people from my Facebook news feed. I only have close friends and family on there now. I’m also limiting myself to 2 facebook checks a day. One in the morning and one in the evening.
If I go back to Twitter, I will be un-following 90% of my followers so I don’t have to see their feeds. There are a handful that I really enjoy and I’d still like to follow them.
I agree with what you said about to much personal info about photographers you admire. I feel the same. It’s better just to follow their blogs.
Steven,
You are definitely on the mark! I abstained from signing on to facebook and twitter, I don’t even respond to being invited on to linkin, and, believe it or not, I have never owned a tv.
Our culture spends so much time avoiding their own thoughts and feelings, keeping themselves distracted with violence, drama, facebook and twitter, bad news, and pointless “reality” shows and soap operas! Including rap “music” pounding, so they do not have to hear their own thoughts. Meanwhile, disconnected from nature, their own inner peace, and the ability to not only be alone, but actually connect with each other! They text each other, but they’re only having a relationship with their cell phone! Insanity. No wonder most of the population is suffering from deep depression and obesity!
Here’s to you, to nature, to all things wild, the snow and the trees, and the ever-changing clouds! Here’s to our connection with nature and each other, and the real beauty of our own inner being and our connection with our own undisturbed inner peace!
James
Thanks James. You are right on the mark too.
Amen!!!
Wow! Thanks for the comments guys. You’ve helped me to see that I’m making the right decision. Not that I thought I wasn’t.
By not going to Twitter and Facebook I got more productive work done yesterday than I have in months. By not worrying about them my creativity was back and I felt more free than I have in a long time. I told Lynne last night, it was like a day off of work. So much stress left me yesterday once I made the decision to stop. It really had become addicting to me.
I love Kahlee’s comment “because a pack of wild hyenas ran through their million dollar estate”. Sounds like my two dogs. By the way, did I tell you what my two dogs did this morning while I was eating my breakfast and reading the newspa…….
Steven – well, the others said it and you’ve responded, so i’ll just say ditto!
Thanks Terry.
Steven,
Thank you again as usual, and congratulations for listening to your own inner voice, your own intuition; simply what all the Hero Journey stories are all about, and what the Vision Quest is all about, and what connecting with Nature is all about. And unhooking from the world of addition; a world addicted to sensations, running in the opposite direction. You have tapped back in to real inner peace and tranquility, and creating from the “inside out”. Living your true Calling, and in that, serving our community and the Greater good. Here’s a poem I wrote called “Wolf”:
Wolf
Wolf does not follow others tracks.
Wolf follows his or her Heart, some of us
Call that intuition.
Wolf believes in the pack,
Loyalty and cooperation
Set wolf apart-
Wolf is in the world
But not of it.
Some of us are wolf, we know
Because we feel different from
The others. Our senses are keen,
We howl to the moon, devoted to
Protecting our connection with nature
And each other.
We are not followers, but we follow
Higher Guidance and we leave
Our Wolf tracks for others to follow.
In our Wolftracks we reveal
The Ancient Teaching. And from
Our Hearts we live
The Wondrous Life.
James
Thanks for the poem James. That’s awesome!
James, your remarks are SO on point. We are each on a vision quest — even if we may be oblivious to it at certain times. When we “anesthetize” our passion, our feelings, our spirits, we can easily lose sight of our path. Thank you for your beautiful poem. It sings to the heart of many of us.
Kahlee,
Thank you, and cheers to you for being open and touched. The poems belong to all of us, and seem to just come though me, the way I think Steven’s photograph’s come through his lens to us, showing us to stay open, and alive, and to keep feeling!
“In Mountains”
These days all seem to go
Too fast.
One day seems to go by
Like the beat of a heart,
And some of us fill that day with
Self indulgence and pointless chit-chat.
In some ways I’m still the kid
Posing at the creek
In blue jeans holding up
His first fish,
A crooked smile
And a butch haircut,
His thoughts
Sailing to the top of the mountain
Away from all this loneliness
And confusion.
Sailing away to white clouds
And pine trees that know
How to bend
Not break,
And birds that wake singing,
And streams that run clear.
Give me a mind
That runs clear,
A Heart that knows how to Heal, a
Life that knows how to feel
And mind that runs clear,
A mind that runs clear.
You may enjoy the chapter called “The low information diet” in Tim Ferris’s The 4-Hour workweek.
PS: I’d appreciate if you could delete previous comment. Autofill yield a wrong (system) URL.
Thanks QT, I’ll check it out. I love your photography.
I deleted the other comment for you.
Cheers to all of you, and thank you Steven for your photographs, and sharing what you’ve been feeling, and the opportunity to share one more poem titled “Ruwau”.
Ruwau
Deep down, I want to sail away
At midnight into a moonless horizon,
Sail away to where my addictions and behaviors
Can no longer cause me or the ones I love anymore harm,
And send my soul to Ruwau Lake
High in the Sierras, my true home
Where moss and sky bring me peace
And unconditional Love,
And where I find peace
In the forgiving snow.
Where there are no shadows,
No judgment, or lives in pain
Or feeling this deep sorrow every moment
In my Heart of how we’ve harmed our Earth.
I am sailing now into the moonless night,
Sailing with my sky
And my clouds
Into the quiet snow
Of Ruwau and the
Sound of no sound.
Connecting with the silence, with my Inner Being,
With others who know about clouds, and sky, and earth,
And the being we call Ruwau.
You know who you are, and we know
Who we are. And we know that
Above all else, love, and this Earth,
And the changing clouds, and our connection
With each other is the only thing that is
Real, and silent, and everlasting.
James
Good for you Steven! Letting go of Social Networking is not an easy decision to make, hard to get it’s claws out of you once they are in.
There are days when I spend all day in front of the computer and don’t feel like I got anything done. The constant flow if “data” from social networking doesn’t help with this.
I’m convinced that setting up a schedule for consuming data and limiting your time for consumption is key. Personally, I try to check email/twitter/social networks 2-3 times a day only. And I started using RescueTime to monitor how much time I spend where…nothing wakes you up faster than a splash of cold hard facts in your face. Having hard rules about who you follow on social networking is key as well…content of posts is key for me, not quantity of posts.
Good luck with the change. I keep falling off the horse from time to time…change isn’t easy. :-)
Thanks Greg. I’ll most likely fall off the horse at some point too :-)
But when I do, I’m going to monitor my time spent and only follow those folks that I enjoy following.
Just like at any other job, it’s important to take days off. With the ease of just logging in it is much easier to fall into a trap. Hope things work out the best.
Thanks Richard.
Dude, you hit the nail on the head. I think most feel the same and it’s an easy trap to fall into. Heck, its the same w/ photo forums too. At times the draw of getting any comments on forum can out way being in the outdoors! Definitely not a good thing. Not to mention getting caught up an any one particular “photo fad” at any given moment.
I’ve decided recently to cut back on my participation on certain forums just for the reason above as well as those you’ve mentioned. Too easy it is to head down that road of endless comparisons with other photographers and the negative feelings that generates. Better to focus on ones own art and let it be what it be.
As far as other full time working photographers using facebook and twitter, I wonder how any of them can get any work done if they are constantly posting? As with any tool, don’t abuse it and don’t let it abuse you! ;)
Thanks Cory. I’ve wondered the same thing about how some of these folks get any work done.
[...] Up and New Graphics Page November 5th, 2009 Author: Steven Thanks for all the comments on my post The Social Networking Blues. I didn’t expect that at all. It’s cool to see that I’m not the only one who [...]