This year I’ve found myself losing interest in social media.
Sometimes social media feels like standing in a crowded room where everyone is shouting and you’re searching for something but don’t really know what you’re looking for.
Our time is precious and so rather than spending 15 minutes scrolling twitter reading tweets that you don’t really care about, that time could be spent reading a few blog posts on topics you’re interested in.
Social media does have that feeling of being social as you can interact with starngers across the world in real time. However, I think the more time spent on social media, the less it benefits you. I recently wrote about wanting to get back to reading blogs more but I think there are plenty of other things that migth be better than social media and a lot more enjoyable.
Blogs
I’ve been blogging and reading blogs for over a decade, more than a third of my life. Blog posts always feel so intentional to consume because it’s easy to read the title of the post and decide whether or not it interests me. I also find it a lot more relaxing to read the words and look through the pictures at my own pace compared with short form video content that can end up feeling a little aggressive.
Podcasts
I go through phases with the podcasts I’m listening to, sometimes I want to be entertained and other times I want something that will have me reflecting, learning and resonating. One of the podcasts I’m enjoying at the moment is Offline with Alison Rice. The podcast episodes are always thoughtful and interesting which I love. Another great thing about podcasts is they don’t require you to look at the screen, they’re great to listen to on a walk or whilst cooking etc.
Newsletters
This is a type of content that I’ve only really gotten into in the last couple of years. I find that many people use mailing lists as permission to spam the people that subscribe which is quite annoying. I’m a big fan of a monthly or weekly newsletter (or email content) that feel well curated and intentional. I get emails from Alison Rice, Field and Nest, Wear What Works, InTheFrow, My Slow World and Alexandra Dudley. They’re a mix of short notes and monthly or weekly roundups on a mix of things I’m interested in. I also think they’re a great way of having direct contact with your audience and keeping them up to date.
Online membership communities
I’m currently a member of one online membership community and it’s been life-changing. There is new content weekly (most of which is available to join live), a class library and a forum to interact with other members. Then, I’ve recently thought about joining another community that is a conscious professional development space that I think could be really impactful for where I’m at in my career.
I think most people that go through the effort of creating a space for their community care about making it more than worth what it costs to join.
There are lots of different ways to have a closed online community such as a private Facebook page or Discord. However, the community I’m a part of and the one I’m thinking of joining are paid for memberships. As much as free stuff is great, I’m more than happy to pay when being a member feels like it’s worth more than what it costs to join.
The Daily Gemm 