Social media has changed a lot of things in the last few years. It’s changed the way companies have to publicly respond to customer complaints, its increased the spread and speed of information, it helps people stay in touch, its given us a closer inside look into many celebrities lives, and its become a standard way companies, people, and blogs promote themselves.

A lot of people love social media so much they’re addicted to it, perhaps including you. But not so much for me. I feel a bit like the odd ball in the room because I find social media painful and rather a waste of my time. When you have the 20th picture of a friend posting a selfie or a fabulous vacation picture, it gets kind of old don’t you think?

Too Many Platforms, Too Little Time

My biggest pain with social media is time. I have a hard enough time as it is juggling all my work hours, family issues, personal time, to-dos, and blogging. Social media is one of the first things that drops off my priority list. Exercise is second, but I’m doing a little bit better about that this year.

Minutes can rack up so quickly on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. if you’re not careful. When I first started using Facebook, I lost hours of my day just clicking around reading people’s walls and looking at pictures. It was fun in the beginning, but then I just got so frustrated that my time was getting eaten up doing something so unproductive.

And as for platforms, I can’t even count all the social media platforms on both hands. There’s too many to keep track of. I gave up on that a while ago. I don’t even have a Google+ account for myself or a page for my blog. I’ve had that on my to do list for over two years now lol, but I still haven’t taken the time to set one up. I just can’t be bothered! Maybe I’m missing out, but does anyone really use Google+ these days?

Some of my non blogging friends use it to post pictures, but that’s the most exposure I’ve had with it. I have Google+ buttons on my site that someone installed for me ages ago, but I really should figure out how to remove them since I never ended up creating my own account! I suppose Google+ may help with SEO (?), I’ve heard decent things about the authorship feature, but I just can’t get the motivation or any sense of urgency to sign up.

Social Fads Fade

Part of the other reason why I stopped signing up for social media platforms is I got tired of trying to keep track with all of them. I mean how many platforms do we really need? I can barely keep up with one. I have no idea how some people manage more than 2 on their own.

I was also one of the very last people amongst my friends to join Friendster and MySpace several years ago and that was a bust. By the time I signed up, the platforms had dried up and my friends had moved onto Facebook. I didn’t get anything out of them after I finally took the time to create my accounts, so I felt annoyed about that and delayed signing up for FB for more than a year after that too.

Am I The Only One Who Is Paranoid?

Another reason why I don’t like social media in general is because I’m paranoid. I just don’t feel comfortable publishing pictures of myself and essentially diary entries that strangers could get access to. Sure there are security settings in these apps, but what really is secure online these days?

Just look at what came out recently about Snapchat. The company misled its users to believe that all of their texts, videos, and pictures were being auto deleted, when data was actually being stored. The whole concept of Snapchat is shady imo, and I’ve never had an account with them before, but it just goes to show you never really know how safe your electronic information is.

Even a social media giant like Facebook has had instances where private messages and wall postings have become public by accident due to bugs or hacks, and people have had their identities stolen, or been fired from their jobs for saying something stupid. I decided a while ago to boycott installing the FB app on my phone after I found out they accessed phone contacts and other files without the users’ permission. I’m sure things are a lot more secure now, but I just don’t want to be bothered with the hassle of the next bug, bad upgrade, or data breach.

I’m fine publishing some personal stuff publicly on my blog however because I have a heck of a lot more control with that. I only upload what I’m comfortable with, and I know that whatever I publish is 100% public. Simple as that.

The Overbearing Oversharing Syndrome

Another reason I am just not into social media is because of the overwhelming amount of over-sharing that goes on. Some people retweet the same blog post 10, 20 times, are constantly self promoting, post about every single thing they’re doing, or are uploading selfies all the time. Some of that could be automated (ex. retweeting), and I’m sure sharing their day to day events are fun for them, but I’m just not into that. It feels like a chore to post stuff to social media to me. I guess that’s why some people choose to outsource their social media to freelancers, but I can’t justify spending money on that. Maybe it’s because of my introverted personality.

Social media is a way to share our own voice and I just think it’s weird to constantly be self promoting because I don’t even do that with my closest friends. But I suppose if I look at my blog as a business, it’s a lot less weird. Because businesses have to build their brands and market themselves to grow and get in front of customers/readers, social media can help a lot in that regard.

But I’ve also seen one too many cases of a blogger or public figure post things on Titter or FB that really damaged their image. People can say the dumbest things that can ruin their reputation and make them appear so unprofessional. I’m continually shocked with the number of people who publicly bash their own clients, colleagues, and even families over social media and complain about things that should stay behind closed doors.

Does Social Media Really Help That Much With Traffic?

Social media doesn’t strike me as a great way to bring traffic compared to writing high quality, consistent content. But since I’ve never been very active with social media, what do I know?! I’ve never given it much of a chance, so I could be missing out.

But most bloggers I’ve conversed with in the forums seem to stick to 2-3 social media platforms max to concentrate their efforts and get the most out of their time. When I do get around to sharing, I only do it on Twitter and Facebook. I try to do it simultaneously via Buffer or Hootsuite to be more efficient, but my Buffer app has been really buggy lately and I haven’t taken the time to reinstall it.

Overall, my progress with social media has been really pathetic over the last 3+ years, but the good news is my blog is doing just fine. I don’t have an impressive number of likes, followers, or tweets, but I also haven’t ever shared something I came to regret. So I feel good about that.

STARTING A MONEY MAKING BLOG

It’s been over six years since I started Financial Samurai and I’m actually earning a good passive and active income stream online now. My online presence has allowed me to pursue other things, such as consulting for various financial tech startups as well.

I never thought I’d be able to quit my job in 2012 just three years after starting Financial Samurai. But by starting one financial crisis day in 2009, Financial Samurai actually makes more than my entire passive income total that took 15 years to build. If you enjoy writing, creating, connecting with people online, and enjoying more freedom, learn how you can set up a WordPress blog in 15 minutes like this one. 

Leverage the 3+ billion internet users and build your brand online. You never know where the journey will take you! There are professional bloggers now who make way more than bankers, doctors, lawyers, and entrepreneurs while having much more fun, much more freedom, and doing less work. 

Updated for 2017 and beyond.