I spent approximately 6 hours deleting over 4,000 “friends” on Facebook.
But why?
I was no longer inspired by my newsfeed. I no longer wanted to spend time on Facebook. I had anxiety logging on the platform to see what posts would pop up and what sort of messages might be waiting for me in my inbox.
So a little background… I have both a personal FB page and a Fan or Business page. I post to both and have genuinely seen the value of building a personal brand on both platforms as well as other social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, and Periscope. However, from 2009 – 2013 as I was launching a fitness competitor and model personal brand I accepted and added any friend request that came through on Facebook. Once I maxed out I would ask people to like my Business page if they wanted to follow me. At one point I remember taking time to delete 500 people just so I could add some family members to my personal page. I got so overwhelmed at that time that I stopped after 500 and kept going status quo.
Earlier this year, I witnessed one of my Toronto blogger friends close down her Instagram and blog and one of my Alpha Female Podcast guests completely delete her Facebook personal profile. I sought answers. What was causing the inner turtling and protection of how they showed up online? Were they fed up with the state of social media? Did they just want to protect their privacy?
Along with these questions earlier this year, Mike and I started dealing with some pretty atrocious hateful messages showing up in our inbox. I won’t get into detail because it doesn’t deserve any more attention than what was spent reading them. Needless to say over and over again, people had access to my profile and were choosing to spend several minutes trying to break me and Mike down instead of working on their own self-development. Which already says enough about the situation.
So as I watched how others were starting to protect their personal space, create more privacy and I was getting incredibly uninspired by my Newsfeed I decided to take the first steps to curating an environment that I can thrive and grow in. Which started with deleting all those on Facebook who do not make my life better.
So as you potentially seek answers for how you show up on social media and online, here’s some food for thought on why I made the decision to start protecting my space.
I want to actually see my friend’s Facebook posts. Those that I’ve met in real life or would meet in real life.
I want to curate a Newsfeed that enlightens me.
I want to curate a Newsfeed that inspires me.
I want to actually connect with people.
I want to have authentic meaningful relationships.
I want positivity and optimism.
I want Social Media to still be seen as a positive impact in and on my life.
So how will I start showing up differently on social media? Will I still be my vulnerable, fun loving self. Yup. That’s not changing anytime soon. But I will start differentiating my content a bit more on Facebook.
My personal Facebook profile will be a place where I may post a picture or video or two of the fur babies in my life, questions & inspiration around wedding planning, health updates on living and thriving with MS.
My business Facebook profile will be a mixture of essential oil information/education, proactive health care tips & tricks, self-development ponderings published to the blog & podcast or sharing other’s content and a place that I celebrate a life well lived seeking adventure and growth.
And last but not least, I’ve deleted FB Messenger off my phone. I will only answer when I log on when on a desktop computer. Those who need to get a hold of me have my cell and can text me and those who don’t will never need to get me that urgently. And last but not least I am going to hire a VA to read through message requests. Those for podcast appearances or questions about dōTERRA will be filtered to me. Those that wish to cause harm will be blocked and deleted and will never see my eyes. That is how I will choose to play in this space.
So I ask you…
How will you be more thoughtful in your social media experience?
How will you curate quality over quantity?
How will you create an environment that you can thrive in?