Stepping Away From Social Media

BY ELLY STREMSTERFER

We all know we now live in a world that you can no longer escape from social media. My daughter for example, is 10 and in 5th grade. She does not have a phone or a social media account… yet she is consumed by social media. Why? Because all her friends have it, and she tells me that I need to check other kids’ accounts to see if they posted something bad about her. She is 10! 10! There have been countless times she has ran up to me after school and asked me to check to see if her friends posted this or that, each time…almost in tears. As a mom, I oblige but each time, I cringe.

My husband stepped away from all social media 10 months ago. He realized that he was spending more and more time scrolling mindlessly. He just quit, cold turkey. His Facebook account is still active, I mean he is still married to me, but that is it. I am sure if he were to open it up and log in there would be thousands of notifications. They would all be from me! He was able to recognize that social media was having a negative affect on him and his life. He is not alone. Go to any restaurant and look around, there will be at least one person at each table on their phone. So many people can no longer just be present with their family or friends.

The way we do as business as a society currently…we can’t NOT do social media. I mean, for us, the only way people will do business with us is if they “know us.” How do they get to know us? Through my social media. Each and every day, I post on my Instagram stories, which also automatically posts to my Facebook stories. I start my day at 4:00 a.m. and bring my followers along while I let all our Jack Russells out and head to the barn. I feed Muffin her first bottle (Jackson’s Clover Kid 4H Bottle Calf) and Cocoa his first bottle of the day (Jackson’s bottle goat). Jackson feeds the P.M. bottles, before school is enough struggle as it is…let alone trying to get him to feed them too. I check all our goats and cattle. I typically share my 4:00 a.m. barn checks.

A few weeks ago, Cocoa had a bad eye issue. So, I shared the story each on Instagram. Cocoa ended up getting his eye stitched up and I told my followers. I didn’t post for two days following, my inbox was flooded! Everyone was wondering where I was, how Cocoa was doing and wanted to know if he was recovered. I mean, they were invested! I will tell you though, it is exhausting, tiring, and all out constant. It is hard to stop and separate myself from it at times. I constantly feel like I need to post this or that or share something I read. I don’t HAVE TO…but if I don’t…the social media algorithms will put me back at the bottom of the barrel where they don’t show my stories or posts to my followers. Algorithms, how I loathe thee.

Growing up, I lived in a small town of 1,200, not on a farm. The farm life is something that I always yearned for but was perfectly content with where I was. Now, my kids are living the farm life and I do my best to share it. It is a life that I didn’t know. But social media allows me to share our story, our way of life, how we care deeply for our livestock and how we put their needs first. It allows for me to show those who follow us to see our Jack Russell Terriers and how we care for our Goats, Cattle and Pigs. To me, that is a huge win, but it also comes with a cost. Me…on my phone. All.

The. Time.

Growing up, I lived in a small town of 1,200, not on a farm. The farm life is something that I always yearned for but was perfectly content with where I was. Now, my kids are living the farm life and I do my best to share it. It is a life that I didn’t know. But social media allows me to share our story, our way of life, how we care deeply for our livestock and how we put their needs first. It allows for me to show those who follow us to see our Jack Russell Terriers and how we care for our Goats, Cattle and Pigs. To me, that is a huge win, but it also comes with a cost. Me…on my phone. All.

The. Time.

In the agriculture world. We have this awesome opportunity to utilize social media and our following to share our story. We can let people into our lives and show them how we care for our animals. We can show them how we balance the rations or wash the cattle to get them ready to show. Last year, I brought my followers along as we embarked on the new journey of showing cattle. It was a whole new experience for me and sharing that with social media opens the door of communication that allows for learning and understand to take place.

A few months ago, I established a new routine and some rules for myself that still allowed me to share my story on social media, but it didn’t suck the life out of me. I want to share this with others because sharing your story is so important. Sharing our way of life, the love of the land and livestock is even more important now than ever…but we also must make sure that we take care of our own mental well-being…social media is a rabbit hole that can turn into mindless scrolling for hours. I know we are all guilty of it. • Do not open any social media within 2 hours of waking up. • If you do use social media for your business take time once a week to plan out your daily posts. • When you post to your stories, just post to your stories and then exit out of the social media app. Do not linger. • Schedule 3-5 times a day where you check your social media notifications and comments. • Set a timer for your time on social media. A quick 5-minute scroll can quickly turn into a 30-minute rabbit hole. • Put your phone down at least 30 minutes prior to bedtime.

Brenda Schoepp said “My grandfather used to say that once in your life you need a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman, and a preacher. But every day, three times a day, you need a farmer.” If the average person needs a farmer three times a day, the more they know about that person and their way of life, the more they will trust the product they provide. We need to utilize social media to share our stories and way of life, but we need to make sure we find the balance to keep our sanity.