Have you ever found yourself logged in to someone else’s Facebook account? It’s amazing how easily you can judge a person’s character based on the posts that appear in their feed and it’s why online marketing is becoming more powerful than ever but have you ever stopped to consider whether YOUR feed is really serving you?
The average person spends 40 minutes a day checking their Facebook feed, this may seem pretty low but when you consider each visit usually lasts just a couple of minutes you realise that every activity in your day begins or ends with a check in to Facebook.
So why does this even matter?
When I deleted my first Facebook account back at university, it was part of the process of letting go of an old version of myself. My new account would be filled with health related pages, motivational speakers and those I deemed ‘close friends,’ soon enough I became more productive, got in shape and my mind was being refuelled with people and ideas that I wanted to associate myself with but then yesterday it hit me…
Everything in my feed is so heavily geared towards self-development that whenever I decide to have a ‘down day,’ I feel guilty or lazy.
In a recent London Real Episode Tai Lopez spoke about his Law of 33% in terms of who you should surround yourself with, this can also apply to Facebook. Your feed should contain a healthy balance of the following:
“33% People ‘below’ you. So you can help them out plus it boosts your ego.”
(Those who regularly ask you for advice, Volunteering Pages, Charities)
“33% On the same level as you.”
(Work Colleagues, Fellow Entrepreneurs, Close Friends)
“33% Those who are 20 years ahead of you.”
(Motivation Speakers, ‘Gurus’, Health Experts, Business Leaders, Mentors, Masterminds)
I had become so focused on surrounding myself and engaging with 80‐100% of those 20 years ahead of me that I began feeling as if I was constantly playing catch up. (Not to mention Facebook’s clever algorithm feeding me the same kind of sh*t over and over again!)
When it comes to our feeds, we must be mindful of the psychological phenomenon known as the availability bias. Simply by seeing several of your friends getting married or buying new homes will suddenly make you desire it or start talking about it a lot more with your partner and when you’re not doing or being what you’re seeing regularly you may start to feel bad about yourself. Our brains are clever machines, programmed for survival through social proof and so it’s just doing what it believes is in our best interest.
I know this post will make me seem like a Facebook addict but the truth is, so is everybody else. Facebook and other social media channels have become our comfort blankets from being left alone with ourselves. (Tweet This!)
In a recent Six Pixels Of Seperation Podcast, Mitch Joel interviews Michael Harris about his new book “The End Of Absence.” In a nutshell, most of us have become so afraid of being alone with our thoughts that we no longer give our selves any space for creative thinking. Just imagine if J.K. Rowling had decided to check in on Facebook or Instagram instead during her train journey back in to London?
Digital technologies are making it easier than ever to educate ourselves and connect globally but it’s up to us to be mindful enough to create a filter on what and how much we let in but more importantly that we give ourselves enough space and silence so that things (ideas) can come back out.
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