What happens when you get a thousand followers on Twitter, Facebook or any other social media platform? How does this convert monetarily, if at all?
You don’t have to dig too deep to see the various motives on the platforms you participate in. Some play a game to make as many friends as possible. Friend is a misguided term for many of the connections. They wouldn’t welcome you to their home much less for lunch if you asked. However, they can buttress the illusion of popularity.
As we ride the waves of social media, our demeanors are changing. Having too many people you follow can make you look shallow rather than substantive. Not enough engagement makes you less relevant. We have become calibrated and deciphering.
Popularity is one metric, but it’s a difficult one to attain and maintain in all the noise. I am looking for both return on investment and return on attention. Make it worthwhile to invest your attention and time or else don’t engage.
I continually see unfinished and uncommitted projects, tools and systems laying around from people and businesses I work with. The fad pulls us in. We like the thrill. Then the thrill wears off or loses our attention. It becomes work, and ultimately perseverance.
I would advise signing up for less software, less social media and less time sucks. And what you do sign up for do the following:
- Explore. Understand how the complete system works. Knowing the boundaries helps to orient you.
- Master. Experiment and work hard to master the nuances, tricks and shortcuts. You should be extremely productive with whatever tools make their way into your life.
- Commit. You have to be a giver to get today. Provide as much value as possible. This means you have to be valuable. If you cannot find it in yourself to give much, then you are likely not motivated enough to keep things going.
- Assess. Just because something worked doesn’t mean it will always work, especially today. Things change. Priorities change. Ask yourself why you are doing something. If the meaning and enthusiasm are not there, then consider disengaging.
At a base level, our intuition can inform us when something is or is not working. You can only commit and focus on a few things. Make them count. Be a cold hard judge and miser of your time and look for profitability. Then you are not wasting the world’s time or your own reputation.
What do you think?
