I got an email this morning from TED: “How every child can thrive by five”.
Seconds earlier I saw an “inspirational” post simply saying “It’s never too late.”
Well. It’s too bloody late for me to help my kids “thrive by five”. 10 and 6 years too late to be exact!
But this is the pressure we’re under nowadays, and the kind of unspoken pressure we’re need to somehow deal with, especially as social media obsessed small creative business owners.
I’m talking about this now, because of the explosive launch of Threads into our daily lives and consciousnesses. Just the latest thing we’re supposed to *rapidly* master or get left for dust.
The latest ‘opportunity’ we have to be what we were destined to be if only we can be quick enough to seize the opportunity before it’s gone.
A channel, platform or soapbox where finally – FINALLY – someone might discover us and our work.
Pressure.
At least that’s how it feels to me. I felt it the same with Clubhouse. “This is our time” was the rallying cry from the creative community and at that time I was trying to be “more than a photographer” with my podcast about creativity, so I felt that pressure even greater.
Maybe I just feel pressure more acutely than most people but if I’ve learned one thing from writing this newsletter it’s that if I’m thinking and feeling something, then others are too. So I write.
I think the most profound Thread post I’ve seen is “If you couldn’t find a use for Twitter then you probably don’t need Threads.”
Threads is Twitter. It’s just linked to Instagram so your Insta following can easily auto-follow you on Threads too if and when they sign up. That seems to be the main reason people are loving it who maybe never got on with Twitter.
For me, Threads (just like Clubhouse before it) feels like the noisiest room I’ve ever walked into. It feels like a major competition for low key comedy and who can say the most amusing thing or the most profound thing, or something — ANYTHING — just to get that vital early traction.
Pressure.
And then there’s the whole question of who is actually on there? Do we share our work? Because these days I just feel like other photographers just don’t want to see each other’s work on the whole. And the only people on Threads right now are other photographers. So it’s a conundrum.
To me it feels like an open Facebook group. And I like Facebook groups so much that I’m in zero of them.
So I guess I’m saying I’m not sure Threads is for me but I’ll give it some time to settle.
But I’m not saying Threads isn’t for you or that it’s a bad thing. I personally don’t cope all that well with anything that feels like a pressure cooker and I’m on a mission for minimalism in my own life so introducing a noisy room into the mix doesn’t work in line with what I’m personally trying to achieve.
My problem (and it’s very much a me problem) is that I treat most of “social” media and most of what people say on there with quite extreme levels of cynicism and a very raised left eyebrow… I often wonder why people say what they say.
I also think social media is the most judgemental place in the world so I’m scared to say anything on there myself. It’s why I mainly talk to you, here, in private!
But social media is still without a doubt the best place to make new connections, to learn new things, to grow your global network.
But you have to play the game.
You have to BE truly social.
You have to, without fear, talk to people on there. Answer their questions, join in their conversations. It’s very difficult as someone with a tiny following to start a conversation and have people join in. So you have to take part in other people’s conversations if you want to grow your following and make new connections.
My online persona is exactly like my offline persona. Not very social at all and mainly silent. I speak when I have something to say. I prefer to do, not to speak. Social media demands that you speak if you want any success on there. It demands that you speak a lot, unless you’re mega famous for other reasons. Then you can just tweet “Hi.” and get zillions of likes and new followers. Rightly or wrongly, I long for that level of fame!
So don’t just discount it because I or anyone else says they don’t like it.
Play the game. See if you like it. Good luck. I wish you success.
I will be on there from time to time when I need a little attention or can think of something funny or profound to say to keep up with all the other comedians and self-help gurus.
They say social media is the mirror in your house that you don’t like to see yourself in.
Thanks for reading.
Adam
PS – Thread me!! My prisoner number is 11957365.
