Stopping the Social Media Treadmill
It seems like every company and cause is trying to promote that thing they believe so deeply in, or that widget they’ve invested so heavily in. Maybe we’ve been no different here at Faithful Friends. Our social media treadmill has been set on low: 2-3 posts a week to Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. (We gave up on Twitter a while ago.)
But during this month that calls us to slow down and focus on mental health, “taking time to look around, look within” we are deeply concerned at what we see in society around us. Youth aren’t thriving. Fractures are widening. Families and friends have splintered. Minds feel scattered. Depression grows. We know social media use isn’t completely to blame, but we believe it has a part to play in the overall grim outlook on life. On an organizational level, we too can get sucked into the comparison game that affects our emotional state.
When you stop and think about it, it’s all a bit ridiculous. Many organizations feel like complete failures at this social media thing. There’s never enough budget to invest fully in the pay-to-play world. Creating a viral movement like the ice bucket challenge is like spotting a unicorn. Staff whose passion overlaps with algorithms, online youth culture and social media hasn’t materialized.
Investing time and effort, especially on Facebook and Instagram, no longer feels worth it. And Meta as a company continues to display more concern for their bottom line than our collective mental health.
As a communication tool, those we want to share news with (supporters of the work, donors, allies, community partners, churches, mentors, mentee’s families) struggle to see what we post if they regularly use social media, and those that don’t were savvy enough to log off ages ago.
So, moving forward, we are leaving Meta products (Facebook and Instagram).
Believing that social media leads to higher rates of depression and works against what we as an organization strive for (in-person, consistent, loving friendship and community), we want to set an example for the youth we serve.
We’ve scoured the internet for others who are making this move. On an organizational level, it hasn’t quite caught on yet. But for us, we feel our time has come to be a little different.
Creative Good has helped to express some of our own feelings and provides templates to help concerned citizens with the wording to express their strong reservations with the use of Meta (Facebook) products in particular. Borrowing from their suggestions, we too are “deeply concerned by the ongoing revelations of the unethical, immoral behavior by Facebook and Instagram leaders: inciting violence here and abroad, knowingly spreading hateful and false content, and causing anxiety and depression in young users – especially teenage girls – all in service of increased revenue growth”. As an organization committed to the pursuit of truth and justice, we just don’t want to maintain a presence on these services “in the same way that we would not hold meetings in a casino or strip club.”
We recognize this kind of decision should be on a case-by-case basis and there IS much good that can also come about through continued use of these platforms properly. So there is no judgement from us in this regard on anyone else as to what they choose to do, or not do, in their own digital worlds and strategies.
Our updated communications approach aims to roll out the following strategy:
we will move to a weekly email newsletter for our subscribers
we will aim to create “evergreen” content of more significant value that works to inform the public about issues that concern us, including healthy mentorship with children, highlighting stories from our mentoring, community and church partnerships
we will continue to post to LinkedIn and our blog
we will create a more robust YouTube channel with multiple playlists
What can you do?
Be sure you are subscribed to our newsletter.
Consider how you can “look around, look within” and make positive changes that impact your mental health and overall wellbeing.
If you wish to continue using social media wisely, feel free to continue to use your accounts to share our blog posts, YouTube videos, etc.
Resources
We are encouraged by two movements we have recently discovered…
One comes from the soap company Dove who have a curriculum to help youth who develop self-image disorders due to the content they consume online. Check out the self-esteem project.
The other is a movement “dedicated to rethinking social media by youth for youth“. Their mission is to “dialogue about the multifaceted nature of social media and promote the healthy usage of it.” Dive in to the Logoff Movement.
