Tag: Social Media

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Family Legacy Social Media

Why You Should Preserve Your Family History

We’re undervaluing the legacy possibilities of digital media.

Bert and Eileen Cavey, my paternal grandparents

I miss my grandparents — all four of them.

On my dad’s side were Bert (1998) and Eileen (2009) Cavey, and on my mom’s, Jim (2003) and June (1991) McAlpine. I loved these four to the extent that a kid can love his grandparents when separated by 2,100 kilometres.

All four have been gone for a while now, but I’m old enough to remember warm memories and exchanges with each of them. I treasure those random slices of personal history, even as they blur and fade with each passing year.

I wish so much that they were still around. What would it be like to sit down and discuss life with each of them today? I’d love for them to meet my wife and my stepsons, to see my home, to visit the place where I teach.

There’d be a shift from amazement to horror, no doubt, when I tell them the market value — and then the principal owing — on my Vancouver-area home. No doubt they would each have some sage advice for my family life, my career, and the career choices of my wife and stepsons.

They’d be mystified by the hours we spend interacting with screens today, I’m sure. But both my grandfathers would also be secretly impressed, I’d like to think, by the frank level of dialogue that holds forth at our device-free family dinners.

They’d likely be surprised to learn that we’ve dispensed with the once-wonder of cable TV, but relieved to see news now available from a multitude of sources day and night on YouTube.

They’d probably be bothered by the improprieties of our non-denominational church, but hopefully they’d also be pleased by the warmth of community and quality of relationships that we experience there as well.

Silent Memories

Thinking about my grandparents makes me wish that I could consume their content. I wish I could bring up their channel on YouTube and peruse their videos for the hundredth time. I wish I could scroll their Instagram feeds — stretching back to WWII. I wish I could explore their blog posts, and read their articles, and listen to their podcasts.

I mean, just to have the opportunity, the chance, the choice … to go for a drive today and play an audio selection from my Grandpa. From the cloud to my phone — quick and easy. That’d be pretty awesome.

Of course I can’t do that today, and neither can you. Because this internet thing is still, remarkably, only 25 years old.

Building Legacy is Easy

Photo by Tanner Van Dera on Unsplash

Today’s incredible ease of access to the internet gives us new options. Unlike our grandparents’ generation, we possess all the platforms and tools to let our voice be virtually heard for years and generations to come. We are free to create, design, photograph, perform, speak, and record video in ways that can be enjoyed and interpreted in perpetuity, rendered in digital qualities that withstand the degrading ravages of time.

We have the choice, the means, the power to craft and preserve meaningful digital legacies.

Many of us will say that we don’t want to. We might feel reluctant to step up to the stage, to grab the mic, to pick up the pen, to type some thoughts and hit publish.

We feel as though we have nothing to say, that we have nothing of importance or value to add to this world.

But I say that we do — we all have something to say, to create, to express. Because it’s not really about the striking quality of your ideas, so much as it is about their origin.

It’s about YOU.

Think of your grandparents. Did they feel a similar shyness about expressing their voice? They may have, and yet how amazing would it be today to explore their videos, to relive their joys and passions, to get a sense of their goals and dreams, to understand their heart and concern for others in the world around them.

It would be amazing to understand them better, and in that journey, to understand ourselves better, too.

That. THAT is the gift that the internet offers us and our descendants today. Let’s not let it pass us by.

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Family Productivity Relationships Smartphones Social Media Technology Wellness

Instead of Screen Shame, Let’s Talk Screen Sense

“And every person there had their face stuck in a screen!” The last word always rings with a special condemnation.

Photo Credit: rawpixel.com

“… and all she did was stare at her phone the whole time!”

The vitriol can get pretty heated in some quarters, coming in dark looks and blasts of righteous fury that our grandparents’ media never received.

You’ve heard similar comments. Reading between the lines, they suggest that screen time is wasted time, that to use one’s phone is to be obsessed with nonsense or to be hopelessly oblivious to the real world. As people look into their black mirrors—be it a mobile device, tablet, laptop, or television — they’re trading down.

Don’t Misunderstand

Now don’t mishear me or assume you know where I’m going here. This piece is not an unqualified green light for screens at the expense of all human interaction and relationship.

I believe it’s critically important to be fully present and invested in the lives of the human beings around us. There are times to put phones away, and sensible boundaries must be drawn to protect relationships. My family observes device-free dinners, and I don’t take my phone into the bedroom at night. I’ve been known to leave my phone at home when headed out for a family time or date night.

We’re doing the next generation a great disservice if we model an always on, always connected, screens-over-people lifestyle.

The Digital World IS the World

That said, the fact is that the digital world has become our world. Our relationship with screens is not some passing fad — it’s here to stay. Those of us that rely on devices for work may interact intermittently with screens throughout most or all of our waking days. And as we move forward, screen time will only continue to grow in ways that we cannot fully imagine or understand today.

Some of the apps that I spend the most time on each day, like Google Drive and Docs, are only a dozen years old. Where will we be in another dozen years? None of us can predict with certainty. What we do know with certainty is that digital technology and the infrastructure that supports it keeps improving. Your next phone will likely live on a 5G network, for example.

But wait — I’m not done.

Not Acceptance by Inevitability

The point here is not to simply throw our hands in the air and accept the onslaught of screens saying “See, we had no choice!” This is not a message of resigned acceptance by inevitability.

The deeper point to be made here is that screen time is more complex, more nuanced than we would like it to be.

By nature, we gravitate toward simple explanations of life. That’s why black and white dichotomies are so popular.

Here’s one you’ve heard: book time = good, screen time = bad.

Put under closer scrutiny, that rule just doesn’t hold any water. Reading a book can be a wonderful, intellectually stimulating act. Yet it can also be socially isolating and strictly consumptive. Depending on the content (as online), the effect can also be as morally corrupting or mind-numbing as any other medium (think Mein Kampf).

Is reading a book time well spent? As it turns out, the answer depends on context and content.

Screen Complexity

And so it is with screen time. It comes in many shades and varieties of value and virtue. Creation is different than consumption, interaction is different than isolation, and function is different than addiction. But all can happen on screens.

In any given day, I use screens to journal, set goals, check calendar events, read scripture, evaluate student work, plan lessons, write articles, edit audio recordings, publish podcasts, engage with other educators, message family and friends, read and write emails, manage shopping lists, order coffee, book reservations, record great quotes, take and share notes, listen to podcasts, manage finances, track my fitness, FaceTime my parents, follow the news, record photos and video, enjoy movies with my family, read books, and on and on I could go.

I’ve got to be real with you here. Even as I browsed my devices to compile that list, I had to fight the screen guilt. Which is kind of funny, but not.

Because when I scan that list of activities — far from an inclusive list, mind you — there’s nothing there that I would change. There’s nothing on that list that’s addictive, destructive, or damaging. It’s just what my life looks like in 2018. In fact, many of those activities actually facilitate some of my life’s most meaningful moments, achievements, and relationships.

Screen time conversations are never easy. As spouses, parents, friends, educators, and leaders, we must make thoughtful decisions around technology — for ourselves and often for others — on a daily basis.

Screen Guilt is Not the Solution

Whatever choices we make, living in a constantly conflicted state of guilt about screen time cannot be the solution. Instead, it’s about using screens strategically: creating more than consuming, connecting more than isolating, educating more than entertaining. It’s about deploying technology to strengthen our communities instead of weakening them, and building relationships instead of destroying.

It’s about living with screens judiciously. Transparently. Unapologetically.

Because it’s not about screen shame. It’s about screen sense.

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Business Communication Entrepreneurship Productivity Smartphones Social Media Technology Twitter

5 Reasons to Niche Down on Twitter

Why multiple Twitter accounts will actually simplify your life and improve your focus.

Photo credit: rawpixel on Unsplash

You like Twitter, but you’re using one account for news, politics, sports, humor, inspiration, and work. You can do better — a lot better. To fully optimize your Twitter experience, you need to create niche accounts. Confused or unconvinced? Here’s the what, how, and why.

What I Mean

What I’m recommending is that you create multiple Twitter accounts — preferably one for every major domain in your personal and professional life. Start with two or three and then consider adding from there. Here’s why.

5 Reasons Why You Need to Niche Down on Twitter

It lets you stay in one headspace at a time.

I’m a teacher. When I want to look for education inspiration, I open my teacher Twitter account. I don’t want to see sports headlines or the latest comments from Donald Trump. I want to read education gold that will continue to inspire and transform my practice. By only following committed educators in this account, I set parameters for the content I see in my feed.

You’ll tweet to an audience who cares.

My sports fan network doesn’t care about the latest big ideas from my teachers’ conference, and my education network doesn’t want to hear about how my favorite team is doing in their big game. Misdirected tweets will only irritate your audience and cost you followers. Instead, add value to your network by tweeting the right content to the right audience.

It supports intentionality on social media. 

I have a handful of accounts at the moment, but I’m only checking a few on a regular basis. Other accounts are for occasional amusement and take up little of my attention. Since my Twitter time is limited throughout the day, I want to be able to make thoughtful and discriminatory choices about which content I’m consuming and where I’m engaging.

It facilitates professional networking. 

I use my professional and podcasting Twitter accounts to reach out to other educators via direct message. That works very well when I use niche professional accounts that make it very clear who I am and what I’m all about. I suspect that wouldn’t work as well coming from my sporting account.

It’s convenient. 

Despite what you might expect, it’s not much of a hassle to flip back and forth between accounts. The Twitter app makes it quick and easy, so don’t let the hassle factor discourage you.

Nothing but Wins

It’s been a few years since I split my Twitter presence, and I absolutely love it for all the reasons listed here. My content, engagement, and feeds have never been richer or more focused.

If you’re looking to get more out of Twitter, it might be time to niche down.