Ep 337 - 5 Social Media Dangers

Hey, everybody. Flip and Danny here, founders of the Freedom Real Estate Group family of companies. And welcome to another episode of our.

Podcast, which is called Freedom through Passive Income.

That's right. And welcome to another episode. And this episode is entitled 5 Social Media Dangers.

Danger. Danger.

Danger, Will Robinson. Danger, Will Robinson.

I knew that was going. I was gonna say it with you. All right, so we're gonna do a little bit of a pro and con. I didn't make a big pro list. My big pro list, really, my number one was connection on a personal level. I like the connection. I actually like it on a professional level too, because I like being able to, you know, just see everybody and especially people that you might not otherwise be connected with or see what's going on in their lives and be able to celebrate with them and, you know, say hi and things like that. It's just.

Yeah, I think it's a connection, but it's also a reconnection.

Yeah.

You know. Cause it's like you all of a sudden you get reconnected with, you know, people well our age that you went to elementary school with, you know, if you remember who those people are. But, you know, so. Yeah, but the connection, I think that is the biggest pro.

Yes.

Now the list of cons.

Yeah. Well, I'll add that I do have a pro. I forced myself to be on it. Cause I said many times during these podcast, I have a love hate relationship with social media. And honestly, the only social media that I'm very actively on personally is Facebook. We're also on LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, I think that's it. But I don't even know how to use them really well. LinkedIn, I sort of know how to use, but it's just not one that I get on and go see what everybody's doing. Facebook is more of a social platform that also has some business ties into it. LinkedIn is just all business. I'm an all business person anyway, so I don't need to like shove LinkedIn, you know, as an added thing that I do. And I don't really know how to use Instagram and I don't know how to use TikTok. So I don't get on those even though our company is on them. But I will say that a pro is being on these platforms, even Facebook, even though as much as I have a love hate relationship, because my hate is the cons we're about to talk about. So even though I have that feeling about it, the benefit that it has to our business, I get A lot of deals through Facebook. I get a lot of investor referrals or people asking about, you know, investing with us and doing things with us via Facebook. And it's because we're talking about what we do and we're constantly kind of sharing, you know, hey, we're doing this, and it's super exciting. We're doing this and this. And then people like, oh, man, you know, I want to learn more. And so it's a really great way to, you know, build your business and show other people what you're doing if they're not in our investor club or on our email list. So that is the other pro. That is a very, very, very. Those two pros are very, very strong.

Well, actually. And now you say that another pro is. Is too. I've had people say, man, I've been watching you guys for the last few years, man, what you guys are doing is incredible, and blah, blah, you know.

Yeah.

So it's, you know, where. What is that? There's a word for it, social proof, you know, and. But people can, you know, they're following us and they're seeing what we're doing. And so because of that, we're getting, like you said, more investors and, you know, and we're fishing, but we're not fishing. Or like in a boat. We're not fishing, but the fish are jumping in the boat.

Yes. Yeah, exactly.

I got there it is.

So here's the dangers, because I think it's important for a tool like social media, and as big as it is and as more platforms that are coming out, like, this is a part of who we are now. Right. And this is a part of how we connect. This is a part of how people communicate. This is a part of how people learn and are introduced to things. So if you're in business, it's very likely you're going to be forced into social media platforms at some point where someone in your team is going to have to be in charge of them. So now let's talk about the dangers of them, because you're going to want to build some parameters if you're the one on there. And I constantly am trying to build parameters and I suck at it. So let's just talk about the dangers and maybe in the future I'll be able to talk about the parameters that I've successfully been able to implement. In fact, I know I have an email in my box right now asking my team about, hey, how do you handle messages? Because I'm getting messages on all these platforms that I don't even really. I'm not even on, and I can't handle all the messages and in addition to what I do already.

Yeah.

So, anyways, let's go ahead and dive into the cons. Do you want to take the first one or you want me to?

You go right ahead.

All right. The first one we have for the cons are five social media dangers. One is comparison to others, which is the enemy of contentment. So it is very easy, and everybody does it. If you say you don't, you're probably lying. When you get on, you're going to see other people and you're going to see that they're doing something amazing, and you're like, oh, well, I'm not doing something as good as they are. You know, that's, you know. And then you start, like, being frustrated with yourself or being hard on yourself because they're, you know, on the path farther along than you are or whatever it is. However you compare. Or somebody, like, just lost 20 pounds and you're frustrated because you're still trying to lose one. It's a comparison thing. And I do it all the time. And it does it, like, it does get me down sometimes. And I'm like, ah, man, I wish I was doing that. And then I remember, hey, celebrate. Celebrate them. And I don't necessarily say remember, because I always celebrate them, but I still get down on myself. I'm like, yay, that's so awesome. Then I'm like, I wish I was there, too. I wish I was doing that, too. And then you forget to, like, be grateful for how far you've come, because your journey is your journey, it's not theirs. And their path has different things going on in it. I read a post yesterday, and I'll stop. This will be like, we're almost out of time. Number one. I read a post yesterday of literally this guy who was building his vertically integrated company, and I was jealous that he had a few pieces to his company that we didn't have yet.

What?

And he's only been doing it for four years, and we've been doing it over five.

Oh, my God.

And then what did I do? Of course I liked it. I loved it. And I was like, congratulations. Of course I said that. That was automatic, Right? I always rejoice and celebrate with people, but I was like, I want to do that. I want to have that company. I want to have that company. And I went, wait, Danny, he doesn't have this one. This one, this one, you know, like, it's like, you have different ones. Your journey was different than his. And so anyways, comparison to others, it's a danger. It's hard.

Well, I know we're running out of time, but I want to touch on. There is a group on Facebook, and it's for wholesalers, and there's possibly, I don't know, close to 10,000 people in that group. And all it is is people showing copies of their checks that they just got from getting their first deal.

Yeah.

And so if you're new, when you go there and you first get in the group, you're like, wow, this is amazing. Look at all these people. They're getting their first checks. And then after, like, two weeks later, I'm still seeing Constant putting on their first check. And they're like, oh, I don't have a first check. Where's my check? Yeah, you know, I didn't do a deal, you know, and it's. Oh, it can be. It can. It can be devastating because it's just constant people posting checks. You know, look how easy this is. And I'm like, oh, my gosh. Anyway, yeah, I could go on and on. Number two, distraction and lack of focus.

Yes.

What do they call it? There's a word for it where you get into Facebook land and you're just scrolling.

Yes.

And you're not even. Actually. You're not consciously. Probably you're not consciously reading, but you're subconsciously reading everything that's going by, but you just. You're just scrolling.

Yes. And we both caught each other doing that, and it's horrible. And I haven't done it lately. In fact, if I look at my Facebook thread, I think over the last month, it's the least amount I've ever posted since Facebook. Like, since I joined Facebook.

Yeah. I think you got a message from Facebook.

Where the heck do you go? And it's just because I'm trying very hard to, like, stop, like, getting on Facebook and wasting time. And we're gonna talk about that. So that was number two was his distraction, lack of focus. Number three is competition instead of collaboration. I think that ties into comparing to yourself, to other people. Suddenly, you're creating this competition instead of helping each other. I am thankful that that's not so much me. I'm more of that. I do compare myself to others. I'm definitely a number one. I hit that hard. I definitely a number two. It's a distraction and lack of focus thing for me, but I don't view it as competition. I'm more of a. You did this. I'm a little bit jealous, and I'm comparing myself to you, and that sucks. But let's talk. Let's talk. I'll be able to help you, and you'll be able to help me, and let's do something together. I'm very, very much a collaborator, so that one doesn't hit me as hard. But I do think that it's there. And I think people will get so down on themselves that they will force it into a competition, which I just don't think it's healthy.

And then misuse time, you know, because we talk about distraction, lack of focus, and just going into the scrolling. I think, you know, to take that one step further is when you see what somebody's posted and then you just read all the comments.

Yes. Oh, I've done that too many times.

The comments are just horrible.

Yes.

You know, keyboard warriors or whatever you want to call them, and. And you're not learning anything by reading what these people are saying. I happen to be in a Corvette group on Facebook, and if you want to just light a fire, go in there and type a post that says, ford Mustang is better than a Corvette. You'll get blown up in, like, 300 comments in two minutes. And it's useless. And so. So it's just it. But, yeah, again, misused time.

Yes, for sure. And then number five, temporary dopamine hits instead of working on ourselves. I think this is powerful because when I do post, I absolutely do turn on my phone and see how many likes I have. You know, how many people. Do they like it? Do they love it? Or. What's that care button about? I don't even understand what that stupid care button is there. Why would you care about this? Like. Like, I would just get, like, you know, and I would get excited, you know, if it was a post that got a whole bunch of likes or loves. Or I'd be like, yay. And really, again, misuse of time goes back to number four. It also goes back to the distraction and lack of focus. I mean, some of these just all tie together. And I don't know about you, but there's times when I'll be, like, focused and doing something, and I'll just. I'll need a mental break. And instead of getting up and, like, taking a walk, I will go to Facebook for my break. And what does that do? Probably waste 15 or 20 minutes because I get stuck on there.

Yeah, 15 minutes. 20 minutes goes by and you're like, oh, yeah, I gotta get back to work.

Yeah. And then if I see a business idea, I'm screenshotting it and I'm saving it and I'm screenshotting it and I'm saving it, and I just. It's just. It's like going down a rabbit hole. So, you know these dopamine hits that get you excited because people are liking your posts or commenting.

Awesome. Well, we hope you enjoyed this episode. Make sure you're heading on over to our website, freedomcapitalinvestments.com to join the investor club. We got a lot of things going on here at the end of 2022, and a lot of stuff going on already, but.