Why You Should Ditch Social Media and Switch to Medium Instead
This article will change your life, if you actually apply it.
First things first, I, by no means, am the greatest writer on Medium (yet), but this article is not about my writing; it’s about utilizing this entire platform for all that it has to offer to your life.
It’s about giving yourself an upgrade.
Our entire culture is desperate for an upgrade. Social media can be, in no small part, held responsible for our collective downgrade.
Anyone remember the 2016 election and Russian bots? Do you really think Pizza Gate would have circulated that quickly via NPR, New York Times, or hell, even Fox News?
One could try to argue that Facebook and its role in Trump’s election is no more than a mirror being held up to show us our darkest selves but, unfortunately, the science doesn’t say this. What it says instead is that we are much more likely to be victims of propaganda through our social media consumption.
Perhaps you’re not the political type and scrolling through social media is less about getting fired on all the partisan cylinders and more about finding cat videos or clicking through photos of your friend’s amazing life. The science says something about this too and the prognosis is stark.
Being this psychologically vulnerable should honestly frighten the hell out of all of us. And yet, the addiction machine keeps churning.
Thanks to our human capacity to adapt and culturally evolve, however, we can begin looking ahead to a brighter alternative future and you are a part of that future right now, simply by reading this article.
So, congratulations on being here. Now let’s dive into the following five reasons why being here (much more often) is going to change your life.
There is a reason The Social Dilemma was the most viewed documentary on Netflix.
Our collective consciousness is longing to be more free.
Perhaps this longing isn’t an especially new phenomenon. Social media’s stronghold on our time and attention, however, most certainly is a new and uniquely toxic phenomenon.
The Social Dilemma does a superb job at breaking down the barrier to entry into understanding the psychology behind the propaganda machine. Once you watch the documentary, you categorically know that you’ve got to find a way out of the Social Media Matrix.
One of the surest ways to beat any addictive habit is by replacing that habit with something new.
Obviously, it would be preferable to fly away to the Himalayas and substitute all the time you spend scrolling through your Instagram feed by meditating with the Monks. Thankfully Medium offers a more accessible option.
Ditching social media and switching to Medium will have the following 5 positive effects on your life:
1. Medium will make you smarter.
“Learn continually — there is always ‘one more thing’ to learn!” ~Steve Jobs
Reading is a “moral imperative,” as quoted by the basketball coach George Raveling in this article by Ryan Holiday. I believe Coach Raveling’s lesson is that, during the Civil War, slaves, soldiers, and activists sacrificed their lives so that ALL people can have the right to read and have access to education, not just white, land owning men.
The point is, learning new information is an incredible privilege and has, literally, never been this accessible throughout all of history, save perhaps oral story telling in ancient tribal cultures. In a way, the internet is a modern version of the oral tradition, albeit, often, a more myopic one.
The amount of information available on the internet is staggering. Frankly, it’s overwhelming.
I am old enough to remember a simpler time before the internet really started taking shape but young enough to be well versed in computer technology as part of my coming-of-age norm. I’m also observant enough to notice that our society is now riddled with a deficit of attention, thanks largely to the advent of the world wide web.
Make no mistake, Medium’s platform is enough to make your head spin with the amount of enticing, clickable options, which does not provide the cure to our collective ADD.
Medium does, however, offer a unique alternative to the addictive “scroll & scream” dilemma that social media has so uniquely bestowed upon us. Instead of getting sucked into the social media vortex and wasting years of that precious commodity called “time,” try diving into a handful of Medium articles and actually learn something new.
I’ve always been rubbed the wrong way by the “influencer” culture of Instagram.
To truly be an influential person in society, I believe you need to offer something beyond pictures of your butt cheeks and a beautiful nature backdrop.
The reality is everyone does have something influential to offer society, but social media is creating fewer authentic opportunities for this. I hope there is a fast approaching culture change within the Facebook headquarters, but the reality is that until their consumers decide to jump ship, social media CEO’s have virtually no incentive to make positive changes.
In light of that, I implore you to replace your habit of bingeing on social media and start using this platform instead. I promise you will thank me in a few months.
2. Medium will make you richer.
“Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.” ~Henry David Thoreau
Medium is chock-full of writers who publish articles on how to be more financially independent, how to be a more successful entrepreneur, and how to have an overall better life.
If more material, monetary wealth is what you’re after, Medium is a platform to get you off to a great start. What I wouldn’t give to be a Medium member in my late teens and early twenties. I would have actually had a chance at learning financial literacy through this platform.
If you’re like me and your entrepreneurial journey involves trying to be a successful writer, there isn’t a better place for you than Medium, at least not yet. As a true fan-girl of this platform, I hope that doesn’t change anytime soon. Arguably the best up-and-coming Medium writer and entrepreneur to learn from is Jessica Lynn. Her latest, most viral article, “How I Made $5,613.47 on Medium in January” has over 4K claps and, really, the title speaks for itself. Most importantly, as an entrepreneur of any kind, Medium can connect you to some truly great mentors on your ventures.
Perhaps the most powerful lesson Medium writers have taught me thus far is that it’s truly never too late to learn, grow, and to live a better, more healthful life. Millionaire author and Medium influencer, Dr. Benjamin Hardy, makes over $1 million per year writing articles on Medium about how to become the better version of your future self. Ironically, writers like him help people like me realize that my life is already rich and abundant, regardless of my material wealth.
3. Medium will help you personally develop.
“The best investment you can make is in yourself.” ~Warren Buffett
Every human being is a work in progress. You are not the same person you were yesterday. You’re either growing or you’re digressing.
Choose growth. Your future self will thank you.
The best way to grow is to learn from people who already are where you aspire to be. Most assuredly, this does not have to be monetary aspiration alone.
One day, when our collective consciousness upgrades enough, the true measure of success will be in having better, stronger relationships…and a fuller garden. There will come a time when all of humanity has to learn how to feed themselves and their immediate community in order to survive.
I would encourage you to find writers who can help you get to that point as quickly as possible. And, if you’re already one of those people, please, become a writer on Medium; readers are longing to hear from you.
4. Medium will give you more empathy.
“Empathy is a quality of character that can change the world.” ~Barack Obama
I read a story this morning from an anonymous writer who accidentally hit and killed a man with her car when she was 28 years old. It was a devastating story and one that I can somehow relate to on an intrinsic level.
Coincidentally, also when I was 28, I developed a somewhat irrational phobia of hitting a pedestrian with my car.
At the time, I lived and worked in Boulder, Colorado and whenever driving downtown, I found myself dodging college students who somehow learned how to pass their SAT’s well enough for CU admission but hadn’t learned how to safely pass a busy street. People were walking or bike riding all over the bustling metropolis and I became riddled with anxiety whenever I got behind the wheel.
If only Colorado’s “oh-so-progressive” politicians had actually passed public transit millages in the late 2000’s, that state could have been a world leader in sustainable infrastructure and transportation upgrades. Perhaps they could have learned a lot from a cautionary tale, such as the one I read this morning.
Empathy is a powerful tool. Listening to stories can help us actualize solutions to our problems. Stories can expose the dark side to the things we have so blindly come to celebrate through our capitalistic endeavors.
Stories are the great connector for all of humanity. They teach us about each other and they teach us lessons about how to be better.
Empathy can be a tricky bugger, as I articulated in my article “How to Differentiate Between Empathy and Compassion,” but if utilized in appropriate measure, especially through the buffer of written content, it can be the greatest tool for humanity.
5. Medium will give you inner chill.
According to the Anxiety & Depression Association of America, “[a]nxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older, or 18.1% of the population every year.”
This statistic is staggering. The fact that GDP growth is the single measure of success in our country while 40 million (and climbing) Americans suffer this crippling condition, says everything you need to know about how backwards our thinking is.
The good news is, you can do something about it.
You can choose to learn new strategies on how to cope in a cope-less world. Medium can help you get there.
Scrolling through social media is not going to get you the inner calm your heart is longing for. I hope by this point in your life, and by this point in my article, this is something you have already come to understand.
The question is, are you ready to do something about it? Are you ready to ditch your social media apps in exchange for a more fulfilling online experience?
“The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.” ~Tony Robbins
If you are ready to begin ditching your social media addiction, I challenge you to start with the following steps:
- Delete the apps off of your smart phone.
- Block social media websites from your browser. This extension works for Chrome.
- Start a paid Medium membership account.
If you’re reading this piece as one of your free monthly articles, I highly encourage you to sign up for a Medium membership and pay the $5 fee to have unlimited reading access. Regardless of my income level, I prioritize paying for this membership because I know how invaluable it is to my life. Doing this will give you that replacement habit you’ll need in order to get through steps one and two.
Start small and see how this feels for the next 7 days. If by that time you are feigning for your Facebook fix and have to check your social media accounts, go ahead, log-in! I would venture to guess that because you were not fixated on Facebook for a period of time, the separation will make the login experience all the more meaningful.
The trick will then be to “catch” yourself when your automatic habit is to mindlessly scroll for longer than you intention. When this starts happening, again, give yourself the break you deserve and come on back into the Medium fold and give yourself another upgrade.
I can tell you with certainty, we writers would be honored to have your readership.
Thank you for giving me your time and attention! If you loved what you read and want to contribute to my “coffee fund,” feel free donate to my Ko-fi page! 100% of the proceeds go directly to yours truly and are guaranteed to make me smile.
Thanks!
In hope & gratitude,
Lydia Catherine
