I Hate Social Media. That’s My Quagmire

For the past five years, I have been ready to launch a meaningful social media strategy. Ready in every sense of the word. 

I have delivered my Journey to a Great Life NOW and Brand Called YOU work as keynotes, workshops, and multi month journeys. I have built more than forty hours of original content designed to help people better understand themselves and the world around them. Each year, that work reaches a few thousand people. And it works. 

And yet, it stays artificially small when in truth, posting content on social media can help me reach so many more people. Many of them that I’d never get my content in front of.  

I am not reaching them due to a lack of confidence. 

It is not procrastination. 

It is not fear of being seen. 

It is something deeper. 

That something deeper is simple to express. I HATE SOCIAL MEDIA! 

And before I go any further, I should probably say this. I do not use the word hate lightly. 

In our house, I was very clear with my three daughters growing up. You should never use the word hate in life. It is a strong word. A divisive word. A word that carries weight. 

There was one playful exception. 

Because I raised them as Dallas Cowboys fans, I told them they were allowed to use the word hate only when referring to the Philadelphia Eagles. 

Which makes this next part uncomfortable for me to admit. 

I hate social media. 

Not because it is annoying. 

Not because it is inconvenient.  

Because of what it is doing to us. And I mean all of us. No one is immune to the harmful effects this technology has introduced into our lives and our society. 

I despise the addiction it fuels, not just in kids, but in adults who believe they are immune. I hate what it has done to attention spans and how quickly depth is replaced by noise. I am frustrated by the divisiveness it rewards and the outrage it amplifies. And I am deeply troubled by algorithms that are intentionally designed to hijack our brains, exploiting dopamine driven feedback loops that keep us scrolling, clicking, and craving more.

This is not a casual dislike. 

It is an informed resistance. 

And that is where the quagmire lives. 

Because at the same time, I know this to be true. 

Social media is one of the most effective ways, and in many cases the most effective way, to share the inspiring work I get to do that truly helps people. 

If I want to reach more people. 

If I want to help more people. 

If I want ideas that improve lives to travel further than a keynote or a workshop at a conference center. 

I cannot ignore reality. 

This is not a tactical dilemma. It is a values collision. 

On one side are my RULES (my values), around living with integrity and building real relationships. On the other side is a tool that encourages, at best, a surface level of showing up, constant approval seeking, and shallow engagement that rarely leads to meaningful change. 

Doing nothing feels aligned with my values. 

Doing something feels like compromise. 

So I stay stuck. 

Not because I am unclear. 

But because I am principled. 

The breakthrough comes when I stop arguing with reality. 

Not surrendering to it. 

Not endorsing everything it represents. 

But acknowledging it. 

Avoiding social media does not make its problems disappear. It simply limits the reach of my work, which is designed to help people transform how they think, feel, speak, and act in ways that make their lives demonstrably better. 

That realization forces me to look inward.  

At my beliefs.  

I have been carrying a limiting belief that says 

If I use social media, I am contributing to the problem. 

What I need to replace it with is an empowering one 

If I use social media with clarity, restraint, and purpose, I can be part of the solution. 

Using a tool does not require adopting its worst behaviors. Participation does not mean abandoning your RULES. Boundaries matter. Intent matters. How you show up matters. 

I am not suddenly falling in love with social media. However, I am making peace with it.  

Because the cost of staying silent is higher than the discomfort of showing up thoughtfully. 

This is not just a social media story. 

It is a reminder that many thoughtful, values led people find themselves stuck not because they lack discipline or desire, but because their principles collide with a reality they wish were different. 

The real question is not whether I like the way this world works right now. It is how I show up in it without losing who I am. 

That is the work. 

And that is the choice. 

Living my Brand NOW! 

Gregg