Episode #85: Let Go Of What Doesn’t Serve You

November 22

I deleted my Instagram account back in early September and I don’t regret it one bit.

Deleting Instagram Use

For some Content Marketers, Instagram is the perfect fit and they love the experience. For me, Instagram felt off from the beginning.

I didn’t like not being able to easily post content from my computer for one thing and not being able to link my shares to a specific item of content on my website was a pain.

Over a period of a few years I tried to give Insta energy, getting support from pro-Insta people, going with the flow as best I could.  While a good social media VA built up my followers list, I didn’t experience results I could pinpoint as positive.

Ultimately, continuing to give Insta any attention felt like self betrayal. As a personal user, I didn’t feel drawn to Insta. As a marketer, I didn’t feel drawn to Insta.  The act of deletion felt powerful for me.

Just letting it go, cutting the invisible ties, set me free from feeling I had to give it attention.

Reshaping Facebook Use

Another social media shift for me this fall involved dropping all of my Facebook friends. Like 1600+ of them.

There’s a blend of reasons behind this big change. I wanted to tighten up my personal social media circles to focus on my closest friends, family and local community. Soon I’ll be a foster parent and I’m looking to build a strong local network. When I visit my Facebook personal news feed, I want to see local things and people.

There was a struggle in my heart about this. I’ve friends all over the world after all – but I decided Facebook doesn’t define these friendships as much as it wants to.  Dropping the Facebook connection doesn’t mean I drop the friendship. To emphasize this, I messaged many people personally to give them my phone number.

My newsfeed is indeed quite different. I continue to reshape it with every like and unlike, follow and unfollow. Do I miss all of the people I used to be friends with there?  Interesting question – that would suggest Facebook showed me their posts when we were connected as friends – which was of course not at all reliable.

What I have found is a return to being personally responsible for my connections. If I’m going to know what’s up in someone’s life, I have to reach out personally and ask. If I want others to know what’s happening for me, I have to reach out personally to tell them. So old fashioned – and so beautiful.

Social Media Is Always Changing

Social channels come and go. Algorithms shift and influence our attention.  Change is going to happen – that’s for sure. Don’t hesitate to be the agent of change in your social media life. When a social channel isn’t working for you or you’re not happy with the impact it has on you and your business – make choices based on what serves YOU.

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