Quick, answer the following questions:

1. when was the last time you made an actual post on your socials?
2. when was the last time you shared a post that you cared about to your newsfeed?
3. when was the last time you doom scrolled?
4. when was the last time you saw anger and hatred in a meme or in someone’s comment section?
5. when was the last time you felt happy after being on social media?

A couple of months ago I was in a conversation with my friend and client, Lindsy, and we were both talking about how draining it felt to participate in social media.

It wasn’t fun anymore. People were just angry, we were being served shit we didn’t care about, and we exited the platforms feeling worse than when we started.

It felt defeating and it felt like a waste of time…which was a problem. 

Because my job is to connect people online to the things they care about, even better if that helps my clients promote their products and services. My livelihood right now depends on the ability to get people to feel moved by what they see on social media and take action on it.

So I had a realization: if I want a better experience when I’m on social media, I have to take action and be part of the solution.

This means doing more creating, purging the accounts and people that drain me, being active and interactive, and practicing Social Leadership.

At its heart, social media apps are communication tools. Originally, they were put in the hands of regular people as a great social experiment, and then they were kind of hijacked when people realized the social impact and marketing opportunities (aka: money) that could potentially be found on social media. 

So if you are an early adopter like me and remember the OG Facebook/MySpace/Twitter days and the simpler experience of it all, it can be super frustrating in today’s world where suspicion is everywhere and you see more ads than updates from friends.

Let’s commit to listening to this episode and afterward, becoming social leaders, owning the power that we have over our algorithms and experiences online and using it for the good of us all.

Quick Tips for Improving Your Social Media Experience:

1. You get more of what you click on. So stop clicking into click-baity, dumb shit.
2. Unfollow. Accounts, people, trends, platforms. Follow: what brings you joy.
3. Make something. Creating brings more joy than consuming. 
4. Be a human. Engage, look for humanity, uplift, educate. 
5. Implement time limits. Apps, bricks, lockboxes.
6. Think critically. 
7. Connect. with others IRL and with yourself. Ask: why do these little digital boxes have such a hold on me?

Practice Social Leadership

• 30-day posting my favorite photos to make Facebook suck less initiative. Encourage others to join in. 
• Have productive conversations, and encourage connection offline. 
• Put your phones away when you’re in a gathering next time. 
• Critically ask yourself, how am I contributing to the dumpster fire I’m being served? This is especially important if you are using social to market your business. If you are annoyed/aggrieved and generally questioning your presence on socials, be sure your content you release on behalf of your business meets these standards too. 
• Give people something to care about, not something to scroll past.
• Support my friend (and former podcast guest) Nicole’s Hurricane Helene recovery Amazon wish list. I met her through social media, and I’m using social media to connect her cause with more people who can help. 

Connect with Molly:

• Submit your Q&A here and get your questions answered on an upcoming episode of the podcast: https://bit.ly/thefoundpodcastquestions
• Book a discovery call here to see how Molly can help your business thrive through intentional, strategic marketing: https://bit.ly/30minuteswithmkm