Social Media Has a Big Problem: People

Post-Modern Living with Chris The Brain

In episode 3 of “Post-Modern Living with Chris The Brain,” Chris and Kait talk about the perils of social media, why people are even still using it, and some positive and negative ways to use it. To cool down, Chris gives his suggestions on the best products for managing cables.

People often talk about social media the way they talk about traffic - a necessary evil. But social media’s not compulsory, so why are we even still using it? What started as a tool for expression and connecting to our tribe went downhill when everyone started using it and it became a professional profile that needed to be taken seriously. Social media triggers a dopamine response, which gives us pleasure, but is connected to addiction - and too much of it leads to stress.

In her book “Braving the Wilderness,” author Brené Brown says that the biggest mistake people make with social media is using it as a place to process pain. Chris and Kait discuss that when you process your pain by venting frustration on social media, someone else is often there to vent the opposite frustration, and you end up venting your anger at each other instead of having a conversation. They also mention that people can fall prey to a subconscious one-upsmanship when posting the good things about their lives.

Chris and Kait are fans of Twitter, which is great for talking to people interested in the same thing as you in real time, following things that you’re interested in, and following people without others knowing about it via the list feature. They also point out that there isn’t pressure to post; you can just use it as a customized news feed. Here are their thoughts on other networks:

Instagram - Great for use as a family album and keeping up with what your friends and family are doing
LinkedIn - The true professional homepage, it’s more important than your resume for some recruiters
Pinterest - Perfect if you make stuff and want to share with other people who make stuff
Tumblr - A place to geek out on things you really like
Snapchat - Making bad decisions have less consequences

Reddit - Where people who say actually a lot go to prove people wrong about things
Tinder - Making bad decisions have more consequences
Facebook - It’s too much work to make Facebook work for you.

On a lighter note, Chris gives a run-down on the best products for managing cables. Apple has (illogically) removed most of the ports in their newest products, which requires dozens of dongles and adapters.

Chris’s Suggestions:
GRID-IT! - takes a variety of objects and consolidates them into one nice organized system
Waterfield Design and NutSac Bags - make lots of high-quality tiny gear bags
Henge Docks - great docks for your MacBook, everything plugs into them
Satechi - unified docking solutions for Macs, their Aluminum Type C Pro Hub Adapter is much better than the Apple dongles

Shout Outs To:

Apprenace, a company creating meaningful internship programs that help businesses and careers grow.
DK New Media, a digital marketing company who lets us use their podcast studio
Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone, Brené Brown’s book about cultivating true belonging
Discord, an app for gamers to chat
Slack, a business and team tool that’s now being used to create small groups for conversations