Hello,
Dropping in on this new moon solar eclipse with your monthly dose of spiritual social media and digital wellbeing guidance and insight, from your Social Media Angel.
In May, there were some great conversations around visibility vulnerabilities and showing up on social media. My big takeaway was how both the fear of being not enough and also the fear of being too much, often gets in our way and makes us feel vulnerable around sharing our authentic selves on social media. Having this awareness and showing up anyway, through creative play, experimentation and support – can hold golden keys that help to unlock our voices. Releasing resistance or blocks to sharing our passions, our skills, knowledge and wisdom with others online much more freely and consistently.
One of my favourite astrologers, Lorna Bevan, Hare in the Moon Astrology, writes this about the energy of this time…
“This Solar Eclipse at 19° Gemini is square Neptune in Pisces, trine Saturn in Aquarius and opposite the Great Attractor - it will shake up your mental circuitry. It’s time to expand way beyond the familiar four walls of your mind and challenge your assumptions about how the world works. You are ripe for new information and more creative thinking. To make these eclipse Gods work for you, study, learn, talk about what matters, about how you can be involved, have your voice heard and offer something to the collective.”
Here to challenge your thinking about social media this month, is
Social Media Ego vs Social Media Soul.
The Social Media Ego wants big follower numbers, lots of likes and to appear popular. It seeks validation and forgets about quantum connection. It wants to look good, successful and in control to others, rather than sharing authentically.
The Social Media Soul, on the other hand, wants to engage with like-minded people and create true connections. It values vulnerability, honesty and service as ways to make true and lasting impressions on others.
Social Media platforms are actually designed with an understanding of societal mechanisms known as Linking and Ranking, with big tech social networks focussed more towards Ranking as a way to engage us socially online.
“Ranking is our comparison and competitive mechanism, if we are praised by someone considered of higher social standing such as a celebrity or a boss, then this is considered a ranking mechanism. Linking is liking or loving certain others, so that we want to be near them, get to know them, and meet their needs if we can, and this mechanism contributes to the bonds of friendship and love we form with other people.”
Elaine Aron writes in her blog on Psychology Today.
You can decide to focus on using social media from a more soul-based linking perspective, rather than a more ego-based ranking one. All the while remembering that they are designed to play to your natural instinct to rank yourself against others, and thus be more in your ego than soul, than perhaps you realise.
When your Social Media Ego is in charge it might look / feel something like…
Feeling upset / disappointed by how many likes a post gets
Buying followers / using engagement tactics to appear more popular
Compares yourself to other people’s accounts, content, highlight reel etc
When your Social Media Soul is leading you may find yourself…
Knows the post will reach whoever it needs to and that not being liked doesn’t mean not being seen
Not basing your self-worth or success in the world on social media metrics
Knows your unique essence and creativity is what the right people in your quantum field of connection connect best with
Try journalling on these following questions…
Am I trying to impress or impact?
Am I posting from a place of fear or love?
Does the amount of likes I get on a post affect how I feel about my content?
Does the amount of followers or likes someone else have affect how I perceive their posts, them as person and/or their work?
Be sure to check in with yourself and feel into whether your Ego or your Soul is leading your social media experience. Be gentle with yourself, because there will always be a dance between the two – the key is in finding your balance.
Keep in mind that the ego isn’t bad, it is there to protect and help us form our sense of identity. But it can get out of wack, particularly in an environment like social media, which plays to the ego, through gamification and addictive design. When we bear witness to both sides – it makes it easier for us to get back into balance.
New this month:
Instagram has now officially rolled out the option to hide like counts on posts.
Details on how to do this coming up next week on my Instagram channel.
I challenge you to try this for a week or more, and see how it feels or affects you.
My latest poem - I’m enjoying writing new ones each month, this one has gone down well on social and with the Social Media For A New Age Club…
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 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 somewhat 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.
When we do this en masse,
We create a quantum bypass,
The Sovereign Cyberspace Freeway.
If you would like some support with social media, I am working 121 with clients on a monthly basis and have space for a couple of new clients, if you would like to schedule a call to chat about how I might be able to support you, please reply to this email.
I also have a group program – the Social Media For A New Age Club, where you receive a Work, Rest and Play Book each month alongside a Zoom call, which this month will be on Wednesday 23rd June at 4pm GMT. Social Media Ego vs Social Media Soul is our topic in the club this month.
If you are interested in finding out more, you are invited to join us as a guest on the monthly call, it would be lovely to welcome you, let me know and I will send you a link.
As always, I love hearing from you and how you are getting on with social media.
Sending lots of love and bright light on this auspicious day,
Katie x
If you would like more of me outside of your inbox,
you can listen to the Social Media For A New Age show
from the 3rd of every month on Wellbeing Radio
You can also read my column
The Social Media For A New Age News in
Untamed Soul Magazine.
And of course you can dive into the books
Social Media For A New Age 1 & 2