Strategy to Switch from Consumer to Creator on Social Media
Building in Public has been challenging, albeit for reasons I didn't quite foresee.
I was able to overcome the fear and doubt relatively quickly. I was even able to come up with insightful, relevant content which slowly started to gain me some new followers (vanity metric) and allowed me to make new real connections (several DMs and zoom catchups so far).
And then it hit me. As I spend a decade wasting time scrolling endlessly on social media, these tech monsters perfected an algorithm designed to keep you glued to your screen.
I would go into Twitter in the morning to share a tweet, and then waste the entire day being constantly interrupted with notifications, or worse, deafening silence lol. The chase for another dopamine hit got paired with fear of missing out on 'relevant conversations' happening or fear of not posting enough.
As a result I've taken some days off to reflect. And as I am committed to building in public, I've come up with the following strategy to make the switch from consumer to creator:
- Social Distancing:
- Write down thoughts and ideas during the day on a notebook (yes, pen and paper) instead of opening the (app) floodgates to endless distraction.
- Plan and Optimise
- Use tools to help you maximise the learning and engagement per hour dedicated to social media. I am setting up Tweetdeck to be able to better monitor several topics, people or conversations better. Scheduling tweets to be posted even while I am working, etc.
- Start Small
- I'll be spending a lot more time on niche forums such as IndieHackers. For some reason I feel like I can share more freely, more genuine conversation with likeminded people instead of being exposed to the entire world in an endless pursuit of endless follower growth. I am also able to express myself better without the 280 character constraint.
- Scale
- If there is any content that really resonates here, then adapt it and share it across to Twitter.
These are some of the challenges and ways of dealing with them that I am having, which I am aware can be quite unique to my personality, life experience, etc.
I'd love to know what your experience has been and if you have any systems in place to be more productive while leveraging these platforms to show your work :)
