I’ve been debating my social media activities for the last several weeks. Instead of being fun, keeping up on various social media platforms feels like work. It feels like a lot of work and that’s the last thing I want. So I asked myself “What are my goals with social media?”
Facebook keeps me in touch with friends from different past lives as well as my current one. As a vagabond, I find it a very handy way to keep tabs on what’s going on with people, from seeing baby Amelia’s monthly growth to wishing people happy birthdays to planning adventures with my Alto friends. I decided to spend less time on FB, so I pulled it from my phone and now I have to go to a laptop or iPad to access it. This is already cutting down how on often I check in, which is fine with me. More time for other things, like the life outside my trailer.
Instagram has a few people I don’t see anywhere else, but mostly the photos on it are also posted to Facebook. I’m not trying to build a social media “presence” as a vagabond superstar, so I couldn’t really see what I’m getting out of Instagram. I’ve deactivated my account and I’ll see if I miss it after a month. As for the few people on that platform and nowhere else, this will make me reach out and touch them in real life more often, instead of being lazy and thinking we’re good because I like their photos on Instagram.
Twitter is a tough one because I do like the science and space posts. So I think I’ll drop everything else there, and just make it my little nerdy happy place.
I want to spend less time surfing social media and more time working on my photography and writing this year. As I write and publish, I want to share more about what this vagabond life means to me, the ins and outs of how I live in my tiny trailer, and why it works for me. Maybe my thoughts can help you with your decisions, whether its living with less or choosing to do more of the things you love.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
Mary Oliver, The Summer Day
Go for it, Annie.
Thanks, Jennifer, for leaving a comment so we can get to know each other a bit. I love that you have an Outback and wander and are “of a certain age” like me.
As someone who follows you and admires your photography but doesn’t “know you”, this blog is amazing because I get an email notice when you have made an update. But I do understand the conflicts of social media demands. Do what works for you. Thank you for sharing your experiences. From a 55-year-old part time wwndering woman (who also owns a Subaru Outback)
This makes sense to me! Glad you are on FB because it’s the one I check most.
Yet another way I am learning from you how to get smarter as I get older 🙂
yup – just have to write that i do not use twitter and rarely look at Instagram (only when I get a message about comments on Instagram) , I have a twitter account – no clue about the pw, and rarely if ever posted on instagram. I check FB daily and am slowly cutting back on that. I like FB to keep up with far flung friends and acquaintances.