Social Media

Social Media

I’ve recently started a course from Yale University called the Science of Well-Being. These free classes on happiness that can be found at https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-science-of-well-being. It’s a fascinating psychological exploration of what makes people happy and what they can do to be happier. I’d recommend the course to anyone interested in what makes us tick.

Many of the ideas in the course are concepts I have always understood. Happiness is not about possessions or success. It is important to understand that happiness doesn’t come from comparing your successes and failures with those of others.

The teacher of the course suggests that one of the best ways to get out of the trap of comparison is to get off social media. I think she’s right. She also admits that most of those listening to her won’t do this.

Hearing this made me think hard about why I’m on Facebook and LinkedIn. At one time I was also on Instagram and Snapchat, but I soon lost interest in telling people what I was doing and hearing the details of what was happening in other people’s lives.

My original reason for being on Facebook was to promote my writing. I felt the same way about the other aps. I must admit, I’m terrible at self-promotion. It makes me feel like I’m full of myself. I hope that I don’t write primarily so that I can sell books. I write because I think I have stories and ideas to share. In order to do this I must have books sold, but sales aren’t my primary motivation.

I find that there are two reasons I look at Facebook these days. The first and best reason is that I’m interested in the lives of family and good friends who don’t live near me. I’m not interested in their latest meal, but I do like to hear about important life changes like births marriages and deaths.

The second and less impressive reason I look at Facebook is that I find it entertaining. There are silly memes that make me laugh and I get some joy from hearing about music I love. I know it’s brainless passive entertainment and I do my best to minimize this type of use.

Recently I decided to move away from Linkedin. I sent them a note not too long ago asking to be unsubscribed. It seems they never got my request. Linkedin describes itself as a social networking site for professionals to connect with each other and employers. A major use of the site is to find employment. I’m well beyond looking for new work. I can’t think of any job that anyone could pay me enough money to do.

Linkedin was useful to me a few years ago. When I wrote VIRAL, I tried to find the veterinarian who was my boss when I worked in the animal care facility that inspired the story. I found him on the site, and we had a wonderful conversation.

Way back in the late 1970’s I was fortunate enough to work for two summers in an Inuit village called Tasiujaq in far northern Quebec. I became good friends with a nurse stationed there. I’ve decided to write a book about my time in the north and my wife suggested I should see if I could find the nurse. Google searches were fruitless, but I finally found him on Linkedin. What a delight to reconnect with an old and special friend.

I believe that social media is largely a source of trouble, and I’ll continue to try to limit my consumption, but for now I’m staying on Linkedin.