My attitude to social media is one of benign neglect. I have accounts on Twitter and LinkedIn, but I am not very active on either. I had an unused Facebook account which I deleted a couple years ago. The reason for abstinence is two-fold: the social media platforms are designed to “hook” and become addictive, and in my blog, I have a very good alternative for expressing myself.
In a recent interview, I was told that as a founder, I am making a big mistake by not being active on social media since it can go a long way towards employer branding and attracting talent. While I agree, I believe the costs will be much higher than the benefits – and there is an alternative middle path. Once you get on these platforms, it is very difficult to exercise self-control. There is always someone to be responded to, and in the desire for immediacy and brevity, it is not very difficult to make comments that one will regret later. Reputations take years to build, but only moments to destroy. In the desire to be witty or cheeky, it is possible to overstep the line easily. It also becomes difficult to draw the line – whom to respond and whom to ignore.
I remember when I had an active Twitter presence – around the time when I had started Niti Digital in 2012. At that time, I got some very obnoxious comments from people because of my political support for Modi and BJP, and questioning how I had earned my money (the IndiaWorld deal). My initial temptation was to respond to each of these trolls and set the record straight. But a wise colleague said that this would be my biggest mistake because that is exactly what they wanted – a verbal joust and there will never be a path for me to persuade or win the argument. The best solution was to ignore them and not let what they were saying affect me. This was one of the best pieces of advice I got. It was then that I also decided to stop blogging because I realised that even though I was working on the political periphery, I would eventually become a target and my words would be twisted irrespective of what I said.
My middle path is to write on my blog – a passion I rediscovered in April 2020. By this time, the active political pursuits were behind me. What I do on LinkedIn (with the help of a colleague) is to post a link to my blog essays and media interactions. Keep it simple. There is the downside of limited engagement, but in today’s world, there are multiple ways people will reach out to me in case they have to. Besides, I am a very reluctant active conversation starter!
Social media, as the world has discovered through the years, can cut both ways. I have made peace with my digital minimalism: writing on my blog, reposting on LinkedIn, and staying away from Facebook and Twitter, except for clicking on the occasional links to interesting content sent by friends. There is much more to life than scrolling through the endless feed of mind-numbing content.
