Social media should come last

If you’re a creative type, are you spending almost as much time on social media as you do creating? If so, you got a social media addiction. You need to fix that.

Social media is a tool. And it should only be seen as such.

I log off of it entirely during the weekend. Right now, my art, my music, and the game I’m working on come first. My social life comes second. This blog you’re reading right now comes third. My drinking comes fourth. And social media comes last.

Blogs are still where it’s at. You may have heard some people say that blogs are dead. They’re retarded. Blogs are where it’s at.

I’ve heard so many people tell me how bummed they are when such and such blog dies. Like for instance, Bold and Determined is coming down. I was a huge Victor Pride fan. He’s the reason I got so heavily into weightlifting. He’s also the reason I changed my diet to get more of my calories from meat and less from carbs.

Heck, he’s probably the reason I have a white blog with black letters. I used to have black with white letters.

With several of the big bloggers quitting, you’re going to see a demand without a supply. Which is where newer bloggers come in.

I still consider myself a newer blogger. I had this blog for years but it was just where I put my short stories. Then it morphed into a watercolor blog. I got sick of limiting to watercolors, so I turned it into what it is now – whatever the hell I want to write about. This is where I want to be and where this blog will be going for at least the next few years.

If you’re also a newer blogger, I got good news for you. You got time. And there’s still not a supply for the demand.

People love to read. Everyone I talk to reads, whether it’s books, blogs, magazines, or whatever.

Your medium

You could be a writer, a musician, an artist, or whatever. You have a creative medium.

I’ve known writers who use social media effectively. I’m personal friends with a few. You know how much time they spend on social media? Only enough to do what they have to do.

A lot of them use tools to automate their posts.

What you won’t see them do – spend hours arguing with random people.

I’ll tell you what. What do you want to be known for? Do you want to be known as someone who creates cool stuff? Or do you want to be known as that guy who totally made that asshole on social media look like an idiot?

Choose wisely here.

I’ve known some pretty talented creative types that do the latter. They spend hours every single day arguing with people they don’t even know.

Then they wonder why their career is shit.

So you know I love travel. When traveling, I’m disconnected from the internet entirely. I have no idea what’s going on in the world outside of the place I’m at.

And it’s great that way. No news is always good news. The news people make their money on doom and gloom because that’s what sells.

Turn the news off and suddenly your life magically becomes better. You know why? You’re not flooded with bullshit doom and gloom.

No matter how well things are going in this world, the news people will always find something to scare you with. So screw them. Turn them off every once in awhile. You life will be so much better.

Automating social media

I have a tool I use for automating pins for our Pinterest account. I actually like creating pins. I use a tool called The Gimp, which is open source software and has a strong community.

That same tool I use for Pinterest can also automate Instagram posts too. I don’t use it for our Instagram account though. I actually like Instagram, despite it barely having any followers. Several of the people I follow, I know in real life. I just post pics of some of my art and have a few followers. Although I probably shouldn’t be giving any Instagram advice as my account is terrible.

My Pinterest account though is pretty successful. I have one pin alone that got me 977 hits to this website in the past 30 days. Yes, that’s just one pin.

And you know how many minutes I’ve spent arguing with anyone on Pinterest?

Zero.

Ever.

It’s not a waste of time, but…

I’m not at all saying that social media is a waste of time. I’m saying it’s a possible time sink.

Know the difference.

If you find yourself spending more time on social media than on your work, you got a social media addiction. Always remember – your work comes first. Your social media is just there to get people to see, and hopefully buy, your work.

And speaking of work, my lovely wife matted these prints and we finally have a new product available. Huge thanks to the lovely Roxy for posing for Mayan Princess. And yes, I’ve climbed this pyramid in real life.

Click the picture to get to the sales page.

Opium Tales Mayan Princess Roxy
Mayan Princess
Published
Categorized as Misc

2 comments

  1. Started with the baby step of removing Twitter from my life for 48h, IG and the rest for 24h. It’s a good detox, especially on a weekly basis!

    1. That’s a great idea!

      I should do the same on weekends. No logging in to any social media once I’ve poured that Friday drink.

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