I was at a recent event, and there was a very nice person seated next to me. We made small talk, and at some point I shared:
“I don’t use social media. At all.”
This left her aghast, she wanted to know why. I led with my introductory opener,
“If you aren’t paying for a service, YOU are the product. It’s like The Matrix and people don’t even realize it.”
I know I opened a can of worms. I’ve written about it much on this blog. I still try to work this out, and I try to work it out with how I can move forward with the things I want to do outside of “The Matrix”.
I’m not exactly a Luddite. I was always a nerd, had a computer way ahead of anyone else I knew back in the 80s, was the first person I knew on the net in the early 90s, and much of the success I’ve had has been because of it. I am grateful for the technology.
I have an iPhone. I use it for email, imessage, web browsing and of course phone calls. The one thing it doesn’t have is social media.
Then I came across something recently that gave me some clarity. I enjoy using technology, but I am resistant to being used by it.
So the things I use and do with the internet are initiated by me. I treat nothing as a 5-alarm fire, and nothing is curated by algorithms. I consume news and articles on plain old web sites. The people I communicate with have a direct line to me and I do not read news feeds.
Anything that happens outside of my direct communications is unnecessary noise. I totally live without it.
So this is how I use technology. I use it quite a bit. It’s with me. I’m using it now for this blog to share this with you, even if less eye balls are going to read it. I trust that the people that value what I have to say are going to read it and for anyone else I’d just assume not add clutter to their own feeds.
The content I write builds up here. It will be here when you want to read it, whether it’s now or a year from now.
I aim to make deep meaningful connections with a small amount of people these days, not vast numbers. I use tech to help facilitate that, as a tool for me, that also gives me a lot of peace in my life and throughout my day.
I know a lot of people don’t want to do what I do, and that is fine. I’m just sharing what I do so you’re aware that there are other ways.
