In a previous podcast episode, there was poking at Facebook about some view points I had on today’s death of relationships. I received some feedback from many of the listeners saying they were contemplating on deactivating or deleting their accounts. As an experiment, I went ahead and turned mine off just after that episode. Here are two things that stick out of it after about 3 months.
Settled Mind
Let’s say you have 1000+ TV channels. You spend over an hour flipping through them until you become aware you’re not even watching anything. You turn it off and actually unwind by clearing your mind from the day’s events. No longer distracted by the news of political issues, wartime events and ridiculous commercials, you spend quality time with your family or friends. That’s what its like shutting off Facebook for me. It takes me back to being a kid and my parents telling me that too much TV will rot my brain. Well, that’s how I see Facebook. Its today’s evolved TV. There is even an episode of Larry King where Gary Vaynerchuk says it plainly for entrepreneurs to use as their means to promote their businesses. While I, as a small business owner, agree with the ideas for providing branded content, the type of work I do doesn’t actually require a personal account that might get me trapped in not keeping a single focus. What’s my focus? My family and serving those that look for leadership.
Quality Sleep
Did you know there are studies on this thing called Internet Addiction Disorder? Crazy to think that people are addicted to Facebook. Some study I found on the New York Times reads that time spent on the site has gone up tremendously since 2014. Although I don’t really see nothing wrong with what it was originially intended for; ie keeping in touch with people who are not local, the internet community has definitely evolved it into an entitled culture that needs some serious balancing when it comes to craving attention.
Facebook, TV, video games, talk radio, etc. All ok if used in moderation. For me, not really needed. Magnetizing the mind towards goals is clarity. That’s what we all need. Clarity. Can’t have that if too many distractions fog the brain with attention grabbers everywhere. The occasional release and entertainment is good but not all the time. Remember your work. Get those checkboxes checked. I feel more satisfied at the end of the night in the accomplishments of the day. That is a secret ingredient for a good night’s sleep by the way. Accomplishments.
Security
For most of my first career path, I’ve been a part of the information technology industry so personal security has always been practiced. Once I left my day job to be a full time owner, I’ve noticed a decline in some best practices. The common theme is to not document all things on a site that claims to have security. In the beginning, I think yes, but as the company grew, the inherent security issues emerge and bad guys do what bad guys do. They steal information. Coincidentally, the recent news tells the story of Cambridge Analytica data leak with Facebook . In fact, the FBI said it in the past that these social media sites is making it easier to profile people. Keeping a good example on keeping personally identifiable information on a need to know basis is good to have in mind. It gives me that sense of still being in the inner cicle with my cyber security colleagues back in the day. A small thing just for myself…that I just let you know…on the internet…on my blog site…
