Why social media is a waste of time?
Your business doesn't deserve the distractions caused by social media
I’ve been an SEO guy since 2011. I never really liked the idea of being active on social media for marketing my work. Until Covid hit and I was forced to try social media since almost every living being with internet access was on social media (and not that much on search engines).
Social media has been the key channel to communicate information, especially during the lockdown. Since the reach on search engines is extremely compressed as compared to social media.
In a way, Facebook’s reach is better than search engines.
Let me explain.
The top 3 search results on Google get 75% of the clicks. Everything else gets ignored, i.e. those pages get little to no traffic from Google. Technically, pages that rank in the top 3 of the SERPs, get to reap benefits.
On the other hand, on social media, it’s so easy to get visibility that just being active in one group to promote your business will be enough.
But I’m not here to talk about how social media is one of the best ways to promote your business, I’m here to tell otherwise.
Let’s dive in.
#1 The amount of time people spend on social media is increasing
I have been active on social media for quite a while now and I have noticed a trend. A majority of the traffic of the websites I work on comes from social media. In fact, most people use social media as a source of entertainment as well as a news source.
But the problem is the brain gets so used to being online, that it wants to continue being online. This lack of time for reflection and thinking makes people depressed and is a contributor to the increase in depression and suicide.
I know several people who spend most of their day on Facebook, Twitter, and even Instagram. I am not saying that you must quit social media, but the problem that we’re facing is the distraction that surrounds us on social media, the privacy issues that are popping every other day.
The thing is, people don’t trust social media like before. Sure, it’s a mode of entertainment, but for a business to be fruitful? Social media takes a backslash.
#2 Users are more likely to share content that makes them look good
Users are always looking for ways to enhance their own personal profiles. This is making social media a very toxic place to be, people are bullying, people are abusing, sidelining genuine people by creating controversial content about them.
Amidst this negative ecosystem, how do you expect social media platforms to sustain a business? At the end of the day, social media is an illusion.
#3 Social Media has created a sense of urgency in the lives of people
Nobody wants to wait anymore. Thanks to the fast-paced feeds of social platforms that change in a matter of seconds. This sense of urgency is only going to burn the money you put in ads.
Speaking of organic reach, all social media platforms are going to pass the phase that Facebook is going through right now. Dead organic reach phase.
Even though Facebook is coming back in the game by promoting groups, but even that isn’t working that well. Even the most moderated groups are becoming spam centers slowly.
Eventually, all social platforms will become “pay-to-use” platforms for businesses.
#4 People don’t use social media with a credit card in hand
Remember the initial idea social media became a part of our lives? To connect with friends and family who’re away from us, to make new friends. Although this isn’t the scenario anymore, from a business standpoint, people do not use social media with an intention of buying something.
Ad commercials are slapped on the face of users, whether we like it or not. This further kills the intention of buying. I’m not against the idea of using social media to promote a business, people are getting tremendous results & sales from social media, but think about it.
Do we need sales at the cost of a bad user experience? How many people are repeated buyers of a product that they purchased from social media? Where’s the intent?
#5 Social media is manipulative
Social media has already brought our attention span to a level where even a goldfish is more attentive than an average human. A lot of information is available at our disposal that the fine line between fact and fiction has been blurred successfully by social media.
Studies have shown that we are inept at predicting our own behaviors in the future, social media is one of the biggest culprits, if not the biggest.
With this manipulative nature, it’s definitely not fruitful to waste any more time on social media, even for business.
I have deleted all social media apps from my phone, have scheduled DND every single day and now, I have enough time to focus on what’s more important in my day.
I didn’t realize this until recently when I was free for a couple of minutes and my hand didn’t go to grab my smartphone for no reason, even though it was lying right in front of me.
#6 Social media is a distraction
The problem with social media is that it has a ready-made audience eager to consume content irrespective of who produces it. Amidst this chaos, it’s very easy & natural to get carried away on social media.
Get distracted and forget why you are active on social media in the first place. This has happened to me and I’ve wasted several years on social media chasing the wrong this.
No one is at fault, but me. I got distracted by focusing on fancy metrics like followers, likes, and more.
The main goal was to use social media to promote the content I create on my blog. Nothing more than that.
Even if you’re super careful, there will be days where social media will create a distraction and slow your growth. Slow growth at what cost? Is up to you.
The solution?
I wish there was a perfect solution to this problem. This is a problem that we will have to deal with as long as there’s internet in our lives. There will always be a tug of war between social and search for promoting a business.
I won’t (don’t want to) say that this problem is purposefully engineered this way, but “this seems” to be the cobra effect of the way social media and search engines work.
I say “seems” because both social and search platforms are minting billions of dollars out of this “problem”.
A mix of both social and search is a good strategy.
However, it’s important to know what’s suitable for what. I have a simple theory. Use social media to get discovered and use search to make sales.
Use the organic reach of social platforms like Linkedin & Twitter (while it lasts) and use search to cultivate organic traffic with evergreen benefits.
I don’t know if this is personal bias or not, but search engines have the upper hand right now. Imagine, you write one blockbuster post that will bring traffic for years with a little effort to maintain it. How cool is that?
If this post has triggered questions related to SEO in your minds, I invite you to join my insider program where I will not only answer your questions but will train you to be good at SEO (and a lot more).
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