Insta-holic? I got a game for you!
Updated: Nov 6, 2020
I don’t enjoy how much I enjoy scrolling down social media feeds. It starts as replying to a direct message, which quickly turns into “just checking” the news feed, and then all of a sudden you’ve wasted 20 minutes of your life before you even know what happened. To remedy this issue (which, for me, would mostly happen with Instagram), I created what I call the Instagram Game.
The Instagram Game is simple. Whenever you’re scrolling and feel like you want to stop, mentally commit to playing the game. Then, whenever you see a post, you must either:
Comment on that post,
Unfollow the account, or
Close the Instagram app.
If I’m in an especially scrolly mood, this game can go on for quite a while (and generate a lot of odd comments). It can also be helpful to weed out some of the accounts you don’t care about following too much.
While watching Instagram stories, playing the game is much the same. I hopped onto the story train one day while playing the Instagram Game. After a couple replies and an unfollow, I came across an advertisement. Normally, I just block the ad and consider it done, but this time, I noticed that the ad was pretty zoomed in on the guy’s face. It looked like it could’ve been an error.
Thus, in the nature of the game, I replied to the ad, notifying the operator of the account that their ad looked a little funny. I looked down their account and saw it was about career coaching, so I linked them an episode of a podcast I produced earlier in the year about finding purpose in what you do (just in case they might've found it interesting - advertise to the advertisers, right?). I then went on with the instagram Game and my life, thinking nothing of it.
To my surprise, they replied to me and asked me if I was a career coach. Having recently watched Yes Man, I said yes to their question (which was only kind of a lie), and we set up a time to have a chat over the phone.
That’s how I met Josh Sabo. We instantly clicked during the phone call, and I told him that the mission of The INDUSTRY seemed like something I could really get behind. A couple months and a couple more phone calls later and I’m handling the blog writing and a couple other behind-the-scenes tasks for The INDUSTRY team.
There are a few helpful lessons from this story.
First of all, being helpful usually gets you places. It's amazing for your career too! If I’d ignored Josh’s advertisement or brushed it off and laughed at it because it looked a little funny, I never would’ve connected with him. Instead, I went out of my way to try and brighten his day a little bit. When you put good energy out into the universe, it usually comes back to you.
Next, say yes to things! After watching the movie Yes Man, I’ve intentionally had a couple phases during which I’ve answered yes to most (if not all) of the questions that people ask me. Now, you don’t want to get yourself into situations that you can’t get out of, or overtly lie to people. I have had a couple experiences that were similar to career coaching, and while I’m not certified, I figured I could take a chance to say yes and potentially be helpful to someone like this. And look where it got me.
Thirdly, be sure to have fun with your life. I think a lot of people are way too serious about their personal social media accounts. If you’re afraid to put yourself out there and face potential rejection, then your life won’t ever change. Take a risk, post something interesting, ask your followers for help, send a DM to someone who you think may not reply. You never know what could happen if they do.
-David Smith