https://youtu.be/d5Up5RytdoM
[ANCHOR]
So here’s the question: is social media drama making us anti-social?
[ANCHOR 2]
Yeah, even though one-third of the whole world is on social media of some sort, mounting evidence that it is making us stray from family and friends, rather than connect with people, and that’s not what we want, is it?
Connection Coach, Jonathan Sprinkles, is back to show us three warning signs you may be spending too much time on social media and what to do instead. What do we do? Because I think we all probably exhibit signs.
[JONATHAN]
Well, look, social media is our world now. We know that, right? But ironically, there are some unintended side-effects of social media. And, ironically, they look like this: social media, depression, anxiety, and poor communication.
[ANCHOR]
We can’t talk face-to-face anymore. You just, anonymously, start spouting out whenever.
[JONATHAN]
Right. So if you’ve been on social media lately, as we all have, it seems like we all hate each other. We’re all divided by political lines. We’re divided by ethnicity, religion, and all of those other things. Social media was supposed to bring us together and, unfortunately, now it’s actually causing us to feel more isolated than it is connected.
So this is my effort to come back and help us to have some conversations that are actually meaningful because we’ve seen that one tweet can change the world, it can ruin a career, but we’ve also seen those videos that can also inspire us and creates a meaningful conversation. So how do we go about fixing the problem now that we know it is a problem?
Well, let’s look at where the problem lies. I asked you during the break what are some things that really tick you off in conversation? What are some things that really bother you?
[ANCHOR]
So I have a teenager at my house, so there’s no the English language, but everything is “like, umm,” it’s the vocalized pauses.
[ANCHOR 2]
I said, cells at the dinner table. So this bothers me. Even if I’m in a restaurant, and I see it and I don’t know them from Adam. And I see a couple on their birthday or on a date and it drives me crazy! I just want to take it away. And I’m guilty of it, too! Looking at your phone and talking to someone (in person) bothers me a lot, too. In my family, we talk over each other all the time. Like, each one of us is always looking for an edge to talk. And I just think that’s a problem. We’re not listening to each other.
[JONATHAN]
Well, I’ve been studying this and I’ve been living in this the world of communication, connection, and how do you teach people to connect with your leaders, with with the clients and customers that you have? And there are several things that we can do just to get back to what we know to be right about good communication and have conversations that matter.
One of them is to have a “no tech” rule. You take that phone and you turn it over, because, as you just mentioned, talking on the cell phones, and having them in front of us actually disconnects us. So agree to have a “no tech” moment. Any time somebody turns their phone over, that usually means they’re serious and you are there main focus.
[ANCHOR]
It makes you feel insignificant when their phone is more important than you and it’s hurtful.
[JONATHAN]
Yeah. So number two, instead of having small talk, try having some big talk. Big talk is just meaningful conversation. So right now, we’re in an era in which there’s two sides. There’s my side, and then there’s the wrong side. But instead of telling people that they are wrong, what we can do is, instead of saying, “Hey, let me tell you how I feel.” Like you said, talking over you. Instead, say, “Well, tell me about why you feel this way. What are the circumstances that led to that?” And, then, watch this. “What are your plans for how we can come together?”
See, when you start asking progressive conversations, you start to get better answers. So tell me how you think we can come together, yet engage and you honor and salute that person for having their own opinion. And it’s okay. I don’t have to change you. And you better believe I’m not going to change you with a tweet, but tell me, what do you think we can do to work together?
