a common response to my social media skepticism is the idea that using these services “can’t hurt.†in addition to honing skills and producing things that are valuable, my critics note, why not also expose yourself to the opportunities and connections that social media can generate? i have two objections to this line of thinking.
first, interesting opportunities and useful connections are not as scarce as social media proponents claim. in my own professional life, for example, as i improved my standing as an academic and a writer, i began receiving more interesting opportunities than i could handle. I currently have filters on my website aimed at reducing, not increasing, the number of offers and introductions i receive.
My research on successful professionals underscores that this experience is common: as you become more valuable to the marketplace, good things will find you. to be clear, i’m not arguing that new opportunities and connections are unimportant. i’m instead arguing that you don’t need social media’s help to attract them.
My second objection concerns the idea that social media is harmless. Consider that the ability to concentrate without distraction on hard tasks is becoming increasingly valuable in an increasingly complicated economy. Social media weakens this skill because it’s engineered to be addictive. The more you use social media in the way it’s designed to be used — persistently throughout your waking hours — the more your brain learns to crave a quick hit of stimulus at the slightest hint of boredom.
Once this pavlovian connection is solidified, it becomes hard to give difficult tasks the unbroken concentration they require, and your brain simply won’t tolerate such a long period without a fix. indeed, part of my own rejection of social media comes from this fear that these services will diminish my ability to concentrate — the skill on which i make my living.
the idea of purposefully introducing into my life a service designed to fragment my attention is as scary to me as the idea of smoking would be to an endurance athlete, and it should be to you if you’re serious about creating things that matter.
perhaps more important, however, than my specific objections to the idea that social media is a harmless lift to your career, is my general unease with the mind-set this belief fosters. a dedication to cultivating your social media brand is a fundamentally passive approach to professional advancement. It diverts your time and attention away from producing work that matters and toward convincing the world that you matter. The latter activity is seductive, especially for many members of my generation who were raised on this message, but it can be disastrously counterproductive.
