The Social Conundrum

How many of you have tried to disconnect from social media?  

"Bye Facebook!"
"See ya later, Instagram!"

My favorite is when it's announced.  I did this for a month last year and the world was very quiet.  Social media is clearly back in my life, but it's different now.  Do I occasionally find myself mindlessly scrolling?  Yes. Ugh. Such a bad pointless habit.  What's different then?  I am learning how social media is working so that I can work with it.  I need it for my job.  That truth is something I cannot escape.  It's "free" marketing and advertising, in a sense, and it is where a lot of us socialize.....or is it?  

Are you socializing or are you stalking?  I'll fully admit to stalking people.  I mainly stalk cake blogs, though.

I blame The Great British Baking Show.

Anyways, how many of you are actually social on social media?  A.J. of my Mastermind Group posed this question to us today on a call.  I have no idea why that thought never stuck with me before. Social. In a media way. Social media. 

​I'm such a derp.

Now that I have used social media to my advantage by interacting with people, tagging, placing links in the right place, etc, my analytics are improving! AND THAT'S GREAT!  That is what I need from a business perspective.

But what about personal?  Well, personal is how Vacation Coffee started, my friends.  Why? Because FitPOWER is not just Jess anymore.  FitPOWER is now an us. Jess is a....me. I am a Jess.  Some things you may have noticed about Jess:

• My personal Facebook page showcases more community happenings and FitPOWER activities rather than personal beliefs or posts.
• My blog is where I open up more.  It's a bizarre thing when people are quick to be petty on social media (maybe it's that quick satisfaction of getting to say something punchy just to stir the pot), but are more thoughtful on a blog.  Or, I'm just not that popular on a blog!  Win win.
• Instagram has the Jess factor.  Fun memes.  Our doggos. Chris being goofy. But it's instagram, so its a quick happy feeling wrapped up in a picture!
• Guess what I discovered!!! PINTEREST!!!  My name is Vacation Coffee! Give me a follow!  Right now I have a book board and my blog board.

This blog can tie in very well with a longer one I wrote the other day called Boundaries.  I gave social media boundaries.  That is what is different.  It may be near impossible now to fully disconnect ourselves.  As a society, we just aren't heading in that direction.  But you can make it better by being clear about where and when you connect to the world, and when you decide to be fully present.  

Watch the video below for an awesomely insightful vlog on this exact topic.  When you get to minute 8 I suggest you really tune in and connect to what she is trying to say.