It took me a while to grasp the relevance of social media. I found it during the summer of 2008, when Senator Obama was running for POTUS. He was using these new social tools as a means of reaching more people with his message, and so I checked it out in case it had any commercial application. I didn’t understand it for several months, but when I did, it was like an epiphany. And I threw myself into it. I followed a lot of people and engaged them directly. And I followed almost everyone back. At one point, my @ to tweet ratio was 4-1. I engaged a lot. It was hugely time consuming. I wouldn’t call it an addiction, but as someone who communicates for a living, having access to real people in real time on virtually any subject was a beautiful thing. I was totally enamored with the medium.
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Then at some point last year, I started growing weary of all the people I was following. Most people seemed to be selling stuff, sharing things I didn’t really care about or starting to congregate in these tight little circles that felt more like exclusive gangs designed to propel each other into roles as experts of the medium. It felt inauthentic. Plus, the people I really liked were getting buried in my stream by these gangs. So I quit my old account (@smashadv) and started a new one (@jmitchem) as a way to manage my stream better. And I started engaging a lot less. I spent most of my time on Twitter sharing the stupid stuff that popped into my head and then responding to people who identified with the stupid stuff. I was blogging more.
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When I changed accounts last September, I was also in the middle of a self-awareness phase of my life. I finally decided that I’m a writer. Over the past decade, I’d been an entrepreneur and copywriter and helped sell a ton of shit for big brands and mom and pop startups alike. But I’d lost some passion for business. So I shifted my focus from securing new accounts and building new brand messages, to working exclusively with one client – Boxman Studios. I saw Boxman as a unique opportunity to grow a company from the ground floor and help build it into a national brand before getting the hell out of business altogether so I can write. And for the most part, it’s been going very well. But the writer thing is starting to wear on me emotionally and psychologically.
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Looking back at my life, I feel like everything I’ve done to this point has been to push me into a place where I can tell stories and move people emotionally. Which is a bit different than mobilizing people to think about a brand or an idea in a new way. Only, this is a massive shift from working for security (money) to working for my sanity. I’m torn daily between priorities for work, and priorities for my heart. But I must work for security until I’m able to work for my sanity. With a family, a house and a full life – it’s just not very responsible to drop everything to write things that have no security attached to them. So I balance work, life, socializing and writing. And my time is completely filled.
I can’t quit my life. I can’t quit my job. I can’t quit writing.
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So I’m going to change how I use social media. It’s time. No, I don’t ever see giving it up entirely. That’s just ridiculous. But I definitely have to change how I use it. No longer can I sit in front of Tweetdeck checking out what’s happening in the world, or seeing who is meeting up for drinks, or who is having good and bad days. I don’t have the time to peruse all the links people share. Or to talk about the latest celebrity news. Or figure out how to save the world. I have a beast inside of me that demands I acknowledge it. When I don’t, I’m an emotional wreck. So I must make time for it, nurture it and see what it’s made of. And the only way I can do that is to move farther away from the social media mainstream, and engage less. If you feel like you need to unfollow me, I completely understand.
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I fucking love the people I’ve met in social media. I mean that. I may not know you in person, but you’ve helped me grow as a human being. Before social media, I was a classic introvert who kept my stupid thoughts to myself. Yesterday I published a post called Meanderings. It was a collection of thoughts I’d had from the previous few days which I could have pushed into Twitter, but didn’t. Doing that would have resulted in reciprocal dialogue that, while amazing, is very time consuming. Maybe I’ll write these kinds of posts more often, since I really can’t just stop my brain from thinking this way. And because I have to write about the moments in life that move me, I’ll likely continue blogging until they call it something else.
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It’s time for a change. So here it comes. This medium has been one of the most important discoveries of my life so far. Because of it, I met you. And you have given me the confidence not only to acknowledge the beast inside of me, but to go in there and be alone with it.
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Thank you.
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Pecan
Mar 16, 2011
Godspeed, Mr. Mitchem! I wish you all the best and look forward to observing your journey via your writing!
monica vila
Mar 16, 2011
What a great post, Jim, you’ve made me reflect deeply about my life. I hadn’t met you until today – now I’m a follower AND a fan.Thank you
Margan Mitchell
Mar 16, 2011
Great post, Jim. I’m a late adapter, having just started on Twitter. It’s not so much the volume of posts, and I’m following less than 1k, but the content. I don’t care if someone’s sitting in the airport or at the park with his/her kid, nor do I like spammy links to free stuff that isn’t adding anything to my life, but I’m quickly picking up on the trusted posters who either write about or link to meaningful content, which is how I ended up at your blog. Thanks.
Molly Block
Mar 16, 2011
Hey, Jim,I understand. As you may be aware, I have significantly reduced my use of both Twitter and Facebook (and, to a lesser extent, Tumblr, though I’m still somewhat hooked on Instagram!). As much as I enjoy the friend-building, support, socializing, learning, and other positive aspects of social networks, I’m finding it’s better for me to spend more time away from online activity than I had been. I suspect you’ll find your shift away from life online to be as refreshing as I have found mine to be. 🙂
Molly Block
Mar 16, 2011
DianeBrogan
Mar 16, 2011
This is a great post. I can relate to what you are saying. MEANDERINGS is even better – so good in fact, I will now get you via RSS. Thank you Peter Shankman for the intro.
AndreaMemenas
Mar 16, 2011
Well, I’m going to miss you. You are one of my most favorite people I’ve met on social media. But, I completely understand what you’re saying. I am on Twitter less and less. Social media can be so exhausting, without much return. There are more valuable ways to spend our time. Best of luck to you in all you do, Jim!
PlacesFirst
Mar 17, 2011
Thanks for this; I haven’t been on Twitter for a long time but already love (!!) the people. I feel honoured to be connected with so many charming, smart, and open minds. What screams out at me, in your post, is “Before social media, I was a classic introvert who kept my stupid thoughts to myself.” because that is me! I’m great at sharing one-on-one but opening up in a crowd is … urp … terrifying. Introverts do well on social media – time to reflect on what the hell we’re going to say (yes, I rewrite tweets LOL).I’m still in the shallow end of the pool; everyday I feel closer to taking the plunge into the deep end with a personal blog. Soon, I say. Reading blogs like yours helps me feel better about releasing some of the idea spores floating around in my head. Thanks, Jim 🙂
Jim Mitchem
Mar 17, 2011
Thanks for the words, everyone. I want to stress, I’m not disappearing, nor giving up social media – rather relegating my investment here into efficient slots that allow me to focus on writing more. The way I see it, there’s only so much time to do anything during the day. I’m sorry, but I don’t have the capacity to focus directly on more than one thing at a time. I can skip around from thing to thing pretty easily, sure. But that doesn’t work with writing. You don’t get on a concept train and get off and get on and get off etc, or else the work shows it. You might be able to do that as a programmer, or a marketing director – hell, I can do that as a copywriter, but not when it comes to focusing on telling a detailed story that requires moving into a certain place to let the words/ideas come. I can’t do it anyway, so I can spend a couple hours a day in social spaces like I have been, or I can move that time into another slot. This is my goal. Not to walk away from everyone. Just back way off.They didn’t have ADD when I was a kid. They had ‘Jimmy, pay &$(%)# attention!’
tom martin
Mar 17, 2011
Jim,Looking forward to hearing how this works out for you…. probably a lot of others would like to follow your path but don’t out of fear of being left behind. @TomMartin
Rich Pearson
Mar 18, 2011
My novel – Minor King
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