Being the Light within.
A few weeks ago, I received a comment on one of my articles; it was a bit of a rant about spiritual people using social media and how I was out of integrity, as a spiritual person, by helping people to use it.
They compared the advice I give about using tools like scheduling and taking time offline to being like ‘telling an alcoholic to limit their drinks’ and that I was implicit in encouraging people’s social media addictions. I take feedback and constructive criticism seriously, so it took me a moment to process, to sit with and drop my ego to see and feel what they were really saying, especially as they are things I have considered. I wanted to respond, but 24 hrs later they had deleted their comment, making me think that maybe they realised their comment was misdirected, regardless, it did get me thinking…
This moon-letter is in some ways my reply.
I like to think that most people are aware by now that Big Tech’s social media offering is a capitalist, profit driven operation. Much like other corporations on this planet, they say they care about their impact on us and the planet. In reality, we know they care about their shareholders more, and that it is more of a ‘race to the bottom of the brain stem’. (Tristan Harris – Centre for Humane Technology) particularly with the investments made in building the Metaverse, and their desire for virtual and augmented reality world. They really do want us online as often and for as long as possible. This is what drives their business model, often referred to as the Economy of Attention.
It was interesting to see that the recent changes to the Instagram timeline recently created an uproar, and they were forced to do a quick U-turn and switch it back. They had introduced full-screen view to a % of their users with a focus on short-form video, mostly in an attempt to compete / keep up with the growth of TikTok. Zuck also announced that, by the end of 2023, 30% of our timelines on Instagram and Facebook will be ‘suggested posts’, which is not proving to be popular with users either.
I’ll go more into this and our collective reaction to it in my next article… I’m still processing it, but in the meantime, here’s an article about it in the Metro – where you’ll spy a few quotes from yours truly in there on the impact of short-form video on our attention spans and why these changes can be detrimental to our mental / brain health.
We know that Big Tech use addictive design to hook our time and attention.
We know that surveillance capitalism is a very lucrative business.
And we know, thanks to the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018, that we are being manipulated online in more ways than we can possibly imagine, by companies and governments alike, who want to nudge and change our behaviours, to benefit them.
With all of this awareness around the negative effects of social media
here’s an Inner Unicorn Question to ask ourselves…
As spiritual beings and soulful, conscious business owners should we be using Big Tech and social media to promote our work?
A loaded question, especially if you’re feeling uncertain about social media or out of alignment with their ethics and way of doing business. And you have to do what feels right for you, but for me and my clients, the answer is still a resounding yes, for a number of reasons…
To offer workshops, books, courses, programs et al to a wider audience, unless you are some kind of rare unicorn, you will need to play and have presence online in some capacity.
Many courses and programs are built and delivered online; words fly across the world wide web via mailing lists, newsletters, online articles and social media. Publishing deals are made based on audience numbers.
In todays environment it’s definitely more difficult to run a successful business and reach more people without using social media. Harsh, but true.
In this modern digital age, your content, your voice, and your wisdom can be shared across the globe, reaching audiences in a way that was impossible a couple decades ago. So much business takes place online now – for some, entire businesses – so using social media as a tool for marketing and sharing just makes sense.
I’m currently working with some incredible Hay House UK authors, including Diana Cooper and Rebecca Campbell, and as well-known and beloved as their books and oracle decks are, without sharing their magic and medicine on social media, their transformative work wouldn’t reach as many people!
Diana has recently gone viral on Instagram, with her Reels now getting as many as 100-200k views, which is wonderful! Knowing her work is reaching that amount of people is magical, all she wants is for more people to receive the information she has to share.
Which brings me to my next point…
The people who need your medicine the most are probably scrolling Instagram and TikTok. This is advice I need to take heed of myself as much as I am saying this to you!!! I often tell myself that I don’t need to share so much on social because of advocating so much for digital wellbeing but am I doing a disservice through not showing up more? Probably!
Think about it – someone who happily shuns all social media and lives off-grid… They don’t need my work– or yours, unless your work is to do with how to keep slugs away from kale! Lol, but the stressed-out, self-employed, mum of two who’s scrolling Instagram or TikTok while hiding on the toilet, as an excuse to take five precious minutes for herself or the business owner who is struggling to keep on top of it all? Do you reckon she would benefit from your work? I think she might. And how do we reach her? It should be obvious. We go where she goes. In order to be of service, we need to go where we are most needed and most likely to be seen.
This is a way to spread and share your magic – take it where it’s needed.
We have to be the change from within, a guiding light , the calm amongst the chaos.
My friend and client, Savannah Alalia, course creator, wellbeing thought-leader and author, has this to say about using social media (which she is not a fan of) as a tool to spread her message:
‘Social media is a lot like your digestive tract – what you put into it affects the whole of the body. We need more spiritual people in the digital space to raise the frequency.’
That is so worth remembering: what we put into social media will have an effect on the whole of social media.
Which makes think of my poem…
The Sovereign Cyberspace Freeway
Our social media ego,
Is in a virtual-reality game-show,
That we tap into and play every day.
So every time it makes you feel sad,
A bit frustrated or mad;
Remember it’s designed this way.
Produced by AI,
The ultimate spy,
Who captures your thoughts night and day.
Living some-what like Truman,
Is what it’s become to be human;
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Connect to your soul,
Beam light to the whole,
Send love to each other and pray.
And when we do this on masse,
We create a quantum bypass;
The Sovereign Cyberspace Freeway.
Raise the frequency, spread the love and share your gifts and service work with others. Be the light from within!
Some people are able to isolate themselves away from this modern digital life, but that isn’t the experience on planet earth for many, not at this moment in time, particularly when it comes to communication.
We are moving into Age of Aquarius vibes.
Social media is here to stay as long as we have an internet connection and while it definitely has negative sides, it also has positive sides too and it’s up to us to find ways to use social media as a tool, a tool for GOOD! Utilising the good bits and protecting ourselves from the sneaky little monsters that lurk within the digital space. Identifying and acknowledging the shadow and finding a way to be the LIGHT within this digital dimension.
I’m currently weighing up the pros and cons of using TikTok with my clients, for much of this reason, and after discussing it recently, we feel if we want to reach a younger and wider audience, then it has to be considered. I will write more about this soon.
I care so deeply about protecting and nurture our energy while still running heart-connected, soul-led spiritual businesses online.
How we approach it as mindful, soulful influencers in a space that is designed to trigger our ego through gamification and hook us with addictive design.
This is a foundational part of my work and my medicine, so please send me any thoughts or feelings you may have on this topic, I love to hear it.
Sending you all the love from across the digital dimension,
Kdot x
