Social Media = Digital Gold
One of the greatest tools you can use today..
Social media changed my life.. it probably did yours too if you’re willing to break down the amount of connections you’ve made and the things you’ve learned. The value has been priceless, hopefully.
I built For Stackers Only from scratch using social media, Twitter specifically. I used my Twitter account of over 30K followers as a funnel to my personal website (FSO). I didn’t start with 30,000 followers though… I started with less than 100 and I would just speak my mind daily and give my thoughts while I was out in the world, just hustling. From 5000 to 30,000 followers; I was able to start FSO and grow it to over 14,000 members strong in 5 years. This email list alone has over 7,000 subscribers. FSO itself has had tens of millions of hits over the years and continues to get hits even without an update in over 2 years (but that changes very soon!).
State of Social Media Today
Social media is VERY POWERFUL if used correctly. It is one of the only places you can connect with people you wouldn’t normally connect with in your everyday life. You are able to have conversations with people in different countries in real time, and you don’t have to go and search for these people, most people online that like the same things, tend to gravitate towards each other. I’ve been studying this since I joined Twitter in 2010. Anything that I’ve spent time talking about on there, has gained me followers that like the same things. If I talk long enough, they will engage, unlocking communities and people I would never meet in my current neighborhood. If you’re in Chicago and love horror movies, you can find people all over Chicago that love the same thing. BUT, if you go online you will find people in different cities, in different countries that grew up on different horror classics than you. This opens you up to a whole world that isn’t available on your block. This is true for EVERYTHING.
I was always a hustler. Always a go-getter. Always on GO. And I would meet people like me but not as much. We’re a rare bunch. When I got online and spoke a language that only a few would understand, my line hasn’t stopped ringing since. I live in Atlanta but social media connected me to hustlers from Tokyo and Lagos and DC. We all flipped different things but we all understood one thing: GETTING MONEY. By meeting more people like me, they exposed me to things and additionally, I exposed them to things… and we made each other better.. ALL FROM BEHIND SCREENS.
Social media introduced me to people I never knew could exist, ways of getting money I couldn’t even fathom, and helped me evolve myself as an individual. Most people think social media and think NEGATIVE. And while this is true at times (most people use it negatively)… it can have such a positive impact on your life.. it all depends on WHAT YOU CHOOSE TO FOLLOW AND LOOK AT. This dictates your algorithm.
The negative can be found all over social media, we all have seen our many different versions of it. And we all have seen people lose their minds over views and online notoriety. There can be MANY negative aspects of social media and I won’t dive too deep into it, it’s just important to stay diligent so that you are using it to your advantage and it isn’t using you.
The Positive & The Negative and How To Use It To YOUR ADVANTAGE
Social media is A LOT more than sharing posts with your friends and family. It is a place where you can learn and meet people from all over the world. Here’s a breakdown of the good and bad:
Pros:
1. Wider Reach & Accessibility
You can connect with people across the world, expanding your network beyond geographical limits.
Access to industry leaders, mentors, and like-minded individuals.
2. Efficient & Cost-Effective
Free to use for networking compared to attending expensive conferences or events.
Easy to reach a large audience with minimal effort.
3. Personal Branding & Visibility
Showcasing expertise through posts, articles, and engagement can enhance credibility.
Opportunities to establish yourself as a thought leader in your field.
4. Job & Business Opportunities
Many companies and recruiters use social media for hiring.
Entrepreneurs can promote their businesses and attract potential clients or investors.
5. Learning & Growth
Exposure to new ideas, industry trends, and educational content.
Joining professional groups and discussions can provide insights and opportunities.
Cons:
1. Superficial Connections
Many connections remain shallow and don’t lead to meaningful relationships.
Engaging meaningfully requires effort beyond just sending connection requests.
2. Time-Consuming & Distracting
Easy to fall into endless scrolling instead of productive networking.
Managing multiple platforms can be overwhelming.
3. Privacy & Security Risks
Sharing personal information can make you vulnerable to scams or data breaches.
Employers and potential connections can see past posts that may not reflect well on you.
4. Overwhelming Competition
Standing out in a crowded space can be difficult.
Algorithms may limit visibility unless you consistently engage and post content.
5. Potential for Miscommunication
Online interactions lack tone and body language, which can lead to misunderstandings.
Negative or controversial posts can harm your reputation.
How to Maximize the Benefits & Minimize the Downsides:
Be intentional with your time spent online. Use it mostly for learning and connecting rather than aimless scrolling and jokes—set limits on usage to avoid distractions.
Engage meaningfully—comment, message, and build real relationships.
Maintain professionalism—post content that reflects your values and expertise.
Be mindful of privacy—adjust settings and think before sharing sensitive information.
Balance time and energy spent online and offline
Algorithms: Curated vs Forced
Social media has always been manipulated. With more and more people (and corporations) catching on to its power, they’re using it to push their agenda, whatever that is. Your algorithm used to be mostly curated on its own, with a few forced narratives here and there. Nowadays, it is more forced than curated. You have to work extremely hard to curate your timeline, using techniques like blocking, muting, liking, and bookmarking to help tell your algorithm what you want to see and on the other side, what you don’t want to see. I’ve been on social media since the Tagged and MySpace days.. I’ve had Facebook and Instagram as well as Twitter for years. It wasn’t until about 2015/2016 that our timelines started to get a bit more “forced” vs “curated”. With things like elections and the economy, it’s easy to see why and how such a powerful tool can be used to sway the masses.
How To Influence Your Algorithm & Use It To Your Advantage
Today, if you take the time and play with it, you can see exactly how it is forced. I have been on Twitter since 2010. Ever since Elon Musk purchased it in 2022, things have changed quite a bit. Liking/retweeting things brings more of it to your timeline (not new… example more of the exact same post from different accounts instead of similar posts). Watching things brings more of it to your timeline (new). Opening tweets or even lingering on them too long brings more of that content to your timeline (new). So even when you see something violent on your timeline, and you watch it and dislike it in your head, because you lingered on the tweet, it will bring more videos like this to your timeline. The only way to combat this is to block people whose tweets you don’t like, CONSTANTLY. You also have to choose the “not interested” option constantly to keep telling the powers that be that you do not like that content. Even then, it will push it to you, just not as much as before you took those actions. Without those barriers, you will be inundated with posts about things that you may never look into, further introducing you to things that may not necessarily align with you as a person. You see where I’m going? You are being manipulated on a daily basis and it is up to you to identify it when it is happening. This can also work in your favor. I have used these same tactics to flood my Twitter timeline with health/fitness videos, health tips, financial tips, educational videos, food blog pages, and extreme sports like mountain biking and skydiving videos. I’ve also curated my timeline to show me countries in Asia and the Caribbean as well as Africa. All of this helps cancel out anything I don’t want to see like fight videos or porn.
Every time I see content I like:
1) I BOOKMARK IT (“save” it if on Instagram)
2) I LIKE IT.
This tells the Twitter (and Instagram) computers that this is the content I like to see. It also puts more content like it on my timeline, giving me more stuff to bookmark and like. My “For You” and “Explore” page is filled with food, fitness, natural health remedies, extreme sports, WNBA highlights, beaches all over the world, loc hairstyles for women, hole in the wall food places in Asia and the Caribbean… you see where I’m going with this. You are what you consume.
How to block the negative stuff? I’m not even going to sugarcoat this part. STOP LOOKING. Block it out. If you see a red balloon, BLOCKED. If the podcast is discussing toxic relationships and it’s all jokes and nothing about therapy and healing, BLOCKED. Porn, BLOCKED. Scamming, BLOCKED. Fight videos, sexual assault, celebrity bullshit? BLOCKED. The internet today is a minefield and you must always keep your guard up to protect your peace. The more you block, like, retweet, and save, the better you teach the computer how you want your timeline to look like. For example, on Instagram, my explore page is a mixture of natural hair care + styles, cars, nature, food, and science. This is what I like to see on that app. That is the content I interact with, like, and respond to the most. Create what you want to see, or in this case, CURATE what you want to see.
At the end of the day, you are in control of what you see and consume daily, it is up to you personally to keep up with the ever changing landscape of social media. Curate it, don’t let it curate you.