(Illustration by Kim Dong-kyu, demonstrating an individual needing to use their phone in the wilderness)
Computer scientist, Cal Newport write books and create blogs. However, he avoids using social media, rather than heavily using it.
Newport believes more people should follow this and quit using social media. He sees several issues with social media of refining civic life to its cultural shallowness because it can possibly hurt someone’s career.
This goes against the current logic of the impact of social media in the professional world. It’s been said that it is important to tend a potential social media brand, to potentially bring opportunities that could be missed and supports a large contact network to get ahead.
Blogger Andrew Sullivan remembered when he felt the need to update his blog every half-hour or so. It appeared that everyone with a Facebook account and a smartphone felt persuaded to operate their own high-stress, one-man media operation. He said “the once-unimaginable pace of the professional blogger was now the default for everyone.”
Newport believes this is misguided, while being in a capitalist economy where a market looks for things that are rare and valuable. Social media is deemed as the opposite of that as anyone with a smartphone can create a hashtag or share a viral article.
Professional success is difficult, but it’s not hard. The success to achievement and fulfillment, requires one to perfect a useful craft then apply it to something that people care about. If you’re good at what you do, you won’t be ignored and an Instagram following won’t matter eventually.
There is skepticism towards Newport’s concept on social media that using these platforms “can’t hurt.” They also argue that Newport should expose himself to the opportunities and connections that social media can create. He has two objections to this concept.
First, opportunities and connections aren’t as sparse as social media supporters claim. Newport in his professional life improved his status as an academic and writer, where he began to obtain more interesting opportunities than he could handle. He currently has filters on his websites that stride to reduce, not increase the number of offers and introductions, he receives.
His research on accomplished professional underscores that this experience is frequent, where when you become more resourceful to the marketplace, good things will approach you. He doesn’t believe that new opportunities and connections are unimportant, but argues that it’s unnecessary to need social media to attract them.
(Illustration by David Saracino)
Secondly, he objects the idea that social media is harmless. It should be considered that the capability to concentrate without distraction on difficulty tasks is highly valuable in a relatively complicated economy. Social media defeats this skill, as it’s pioneered to be addictive. The more that social media is used it is designed to be operated while being in our waking hours, as a brain wishes to have a fast hit of stimulus, when boredom comes at the slightest.
Many social media platforms are seen as trivial entertainment services, that usually have good runs. They’re fun to use, but it’s deceiving one to think that Twitter messages, posts, and likes are a prolific use of valuable time.
If one is committed to making a significance in the world, it’s time to turn off the smartphone, close the browser tabs, and go straight to work.