My New Year’s resolution is to change my relationship with social media. I read and listen to a lot of commentary on how social media platforms have affected our social skills, mental health, personal relationships and world views. I recently put “parental controls” on my phone to help me step away gradually.
Journalists have to be on social media. I will still be creeping around looking for events, news tips and other tidbits that are hard if not impossible to find anywhere else. But I want to make my time on social media intentional. I’m going to stop posting and endlessly scrolling.
Will it really impact clicks if I’m not posting hot-takes and links to the things I write on my personal account? Maybe, but not enough to justify the personal cost of being there. Are journalists unintentionally contributing to our industry’s financial demise by feeling like they have to post? Also maybe.
I’m not getting a Substack. I’m not joining Blue Sky. This is not about taking a moral high ground or “taking down” social media; it’s about me. But I will say this: If we all collectively decided this isn’t fun or worth it any more and walked away, these sites would be gone tomorrow.
I updated the <<<<<< sidebar of this website with links to publications I regularly write for. Follow them on their social media platforms!!
As for staying in touch, I’ve had the same email address and phone number for like two decades.
Lauren Warnecke 
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