The goal is for most of us (as it has always been since social media existed) to stay relevant. The problem is, it's suddenly gotten a lot harder to do it. Posting something every 2-3 days on Instagram. Becoming more than just share-happy on Facebook. Tweeting something clever in less than 160 characters, on top of maintaining a snap streak. It is not enough. And since when? Why is it not enough?
For one, it's been happening since your feeds were tracked and filtered into the world where everyone agrees with you. Ultimately, it has forced us to care less. Why bother bursting or adding knowledge to our bubble? We are so much more optimistic. We are so much more at ease and that has made our feeds monotonous.
The problem is, social media is becoming boring. In all our Insta-glam and Facebook friend counts, we pale in comparison to the most pressing issues of race, religion, feminism, politics, and health (among other issues). But nobody wants to talk about anything and get into a fight. If we do occasionally run into a controversial video or read about how Twitter comes to the rescue in places of conflict with tons of responses, even then the commentary seems simmered down by those who align with our views. That being said, commentary that doesn't prompt discussion breeds disenchantment.
You know who has lately been popping up on my feed? People who care about something. They are the most relevant, the most shared, the most catalytic members of social media. It's a total of about 5-7 people if you count them up on all your platforms. They generally speak on issues they are passionate about, often with an extensive amount of knowledge (or sometimes no knowledge). When we log in, their posts are one of the first things we see.
They're really tough to compete with. However, 5-7 people is not enough. They are not all of the differing opinions- and without more of those, this new phase is going to fade out before it can rise to its full potential. The second part calls for a little more effort out of the rest of us. The answer is simple:
Pick an issue, or preferably a couple different ones. Educate yourself. Take a perspective and open the doors to a debate (attn: do not mistake debate for an online brawl). Be brave and leave a (tasteful) comment if you disagree. Because rather than take another 100 quizzes, I would rather read about what the deal is with the environment. For example, there's a company making plates out of leaves that are sort of saving the planet: http://leaf-republic.com/
My point is, your time is valuable- and social media has the ability to only further its worth if you use it right. Refuse the idea that social media is a waste of space. Social media helps ideas spread across the world and individuals have the option for the first time to direct the attention of others and the general media. Use that power for more than overexposed pictures of machine-made ice cream cones- because if you're looking to stay relevant, it's the only option you have left.
