Social Media.

"I'd get rid of my Facebook, but I need it for my music."

I've heard this from my peers, and I've said it myself, 

and I don't think it's true.

Occasionally, an article will pop up about Facebook and/or social media in general, and what it's doing to us. This one from CNN recently crossed my news feed. Granted, it's an opinion, but it rings true with me.

Some choice tidbits:

"...in today's always-on social media world, our solitude has been replaced by incessant online updates, which both weaken our sense of self and our ability to create genuine friendships."

"Kids are growing up ... assuming that it's perfectly normal to reveal everything about ourselves online."

"It's time to wake up to the truth about social media. Networks like Facebook have turned us into products in which their only economic value is our personal data. Like any other addiction, we need recognize its destructive reality. Facebook is free because it sells our most intimate data to advertisers. "

I have long recognized my own addiction to social media. I say it, and people laugh, and I do say it with a smirk and a side of sarcasm, which warrants a laugh. But I admit to times when I stayed up until 3 or 4 in the morning when I had work at 8 am. I admit to letting the rice burn because I was on Facebook. Some weeks, I have more control than others, but for the most part, I don't own my Facebook account. It owns me.

I've quit for periods of time. I think my longest stretch was two weeks. My longest longest stretch was really when I was on the island in Alaska, and the only connection to the outside world was a radio and 20 minutes of satellite phone per week. Those times, I remember being able to breathe.

I don't actually like Facebook.

There, I said it.

So why don't I quit? The argument comes across thusly: "I'd quit Facebook, but I need it for my music." 

Which, in all honesty, sounds and feels a little bit like "I'd quit drinking, but I need to relax."

Not for me, but, y'know, for an alcoholic. I'm a Facebookaholic. If you will.

What about it do I really need?

As a musician, sometimes the only way people contact me is through Facebook. In fact, on multiple occasions I have been contacted via Facebook message with a request for my e-mail address, which is clearly listed on all my Facebook pages, profiles, what have you.

I use it to create and promote gigs or other events. Socially, I also use it to gather friends together in various fashions, and I administer several groups and pages for work and/or pleasure. It's so mainstream now for so many people that I'm not sure I can ever fully extricate myself from my obligations. Or, even if I did, wouldn't I just transfer all those functions to other places? It's not Facebook I'm addicted to, it's something therein which I haven't yet pinpointed. I'm not sure that just ditching Facebook solves the problem.

I'm not sure that it's Facebook or social media which is inherently evil, and I'm not sure that cutting it out is the answer. But here's what I'm sure of.

It's not magic.

Social media is just a tool to reach people. It is no different from websites, or e-mail lists, or RSS feeds, or snail mail newsletters, or phone lists, or what the heck ever. It is JUST a communications tool. 

Ultimately, my success doesn't hinge on how well I communicate. My success hinges on making great music. That's what I want to do. If what I do is really awesome, people will find out. The end. Maybe instead of banging my head figuring out how to reach more people and scolding myself for not using social media more effectively, I should just focus on being awesome and becoming more awesome.

So heck with it all.