Social Media is not a Utility

Most people who can access this blog use some sort of social media. That's not a good or bad thing. Social Media is a tool we can use to connect. it can be used to portray emotion or inform the people that matter to us.

Social media is not a utility.

Take some time to think about that, social media is not a utility so stop treating it as one. Social media is a service provided by companies. To provide the service, they sell advertising to be targeted at you. We all know this. They compete for your attention to generate more revenue.

So this year in Canada, our federal government decided that large internet companies need to start paying for news content because newsrooms are dying in Canada. As a response, Meta decided that they would not share Canadian news in Canada anymore. There was some outrage. This summer, there were a lot of wildfires and federal politicians were lamenting that it was a bad time for Meta to stop sharing Canadian news because it was hard to get critical information out to the masses. 

Social media is not new but it is the newest way to communicate. There were ways to get info to the people before it was posted on Facebook. Furthermore, you could still post the information on Facebook yourself if you are not a news organization. However, these people couldn't think of a way to get information out besides writing a press release and having news organizations pick up the story and share it on Facebook.

If you cannot find another way to get the job done, you won't be getting too many jobs done.

Many may like social media but it is not a utility. What goes or does not go on to their platforms is not the prevue of the federal government. In fact, there is not requirement for Meta to keep operating. Tomorrow they could shut it all down and walk away. They would not be compelled, as utilities are compelled to keep operating. They are not handed a monopoly by any government. Anyone is free to start another social network. I fully admit it will be hard to ever grow to the size of Meta or Google and they have become the go to organizations, but you can try.

If either of these big companies were to fall on hard times, I do not believe any government would come to their aid and make sure they do not fail. So, if you won't hold them up in their darkest hour, you can't tell them what to do or try to use them like a utility when things are going well.

I like using social media for some things. I like how it can connect people and make people happy. I am not naive. I know it can be used for nefarious outcomes as well and I know that just because I don't use it that way it doesn't mean others won't. I think it has a place in our lives if we want it to but it is not a utility.

The Grind

About a month ago I left my full time job and I have been making my living as an Uber Driver Parter. Like nearly every way to earn enough to pay the bills, it is a grind. On those days when it's slow and you have time to think, it's not great. On the flip side, when you are doing back to back to back trips, the time flies by.

There are some upsides to driving an Uber.

I'm working for myself. I have had a few amazing bosses in my life. They have all retired so I can't go back to them. I've had quite a few bosses that make me lose faith in humanity. Not having a boss means I don't have to endure poor leadership and bad decisions.

I work when I want, as much or as little as I want. If I want more money, I simply drive more trips. If I have to be somewhere or want to do something, I don't turn on the app. It means I don't have scheduling conflicts with my job. You do have to have the discipline to put in the time to make the money you want to make and nobody is going to tell you to keep working or get started. Thankfully, I don't need that in my life. I get up, get cleaned up and dressed. then I drive.

Most of the costs of my car and my phone come out of my pre-tax income instead of my post-tax income. These are costs to my sole proprietorship and lead to some savings from the tax man.

However, the best part of the Uber gig is I have some really interesting conversations. Not everyone talks but some of those who do are really interesting. There was a woman I picked up from a TV studio who was just on live TV, she was going to work, and had her luggage with her to catch a flight to Paris after work. There was the guy who re-screens windows, and is trying to move his business but has so much work in town that every other week he rents a van, comes back and sleeps in the van while he does a bunch of jobs. These are just two examples but there is a couple of good conversations everyday. 

I'm not going to drive with Uber forever but it's a pretty good in-between-mid-life-crisis gig. I personally find it super low stress, even if the hours can be long to make the money I want to make. I feel like I have a lot of control over my life, more than I've had in a very long time and it allows me to be picky in my next step, which is what I need these days.

Feeling Free

I've been selling cars for a couple of weeks now. Some of the job I really like, some of it I'm really not a fan of. The job is pretty much as I expected it to be. This post isn't about selling cars, it's about what the world feels like now.

I worked in the same program for the same organization for a long time. I'll be honest, some of it was very comfortable. I knew what to do, and who to talk to. However, I also felt really trapped. Based on sheer numbers promotion was unlikely for a long time. A lateral transfer was also not in the cards for the foreseeable future, not because I couldn't do another job but because everyone else I could switch with didn't have the technical skills and knowledge to do my job. It's not their fault, what I was doing was very specialized.

Since switching jobs, I feel free. 

When talking to various people about how it's going, I have come to realize the world is once again open to me. In the long term, I may not like selling cars, it's too early to judge. However, I feel like if I don't I will find something I do like. I have a lot of skills and knowledge. I am adding some new experience and I believe it will be compliment my current skills. All of this gives me a feeling of freedom.

I feel like I can live wherever I want. Right now I want to live in Ottawa. So, I can work at something I like in this city. If an opportunity elsewhere interests me, I can make a switch. I feel I can have a balance between my work and my my out of work life.

I feel like I can do whatever I want. If I choose to change occupations it may take some time but I can find what I want to do. I can find an organization that closely aligns with how I feel business is to be conducted. I feel I can find an organization that values my inputs and bring value to them. I was bogging down in the churn in my old job. That is gone and I hope to never experience it again.

There was a time in my life when I used to seek out adventure. That diminished in recent years and I am getting it back. It's invigorating. I feel a lot more alive and I'm viewing the world with excitement and optimism. I feel more creative and I'm learning everyday. I'm returning to the person I like and want to be.

I have no regrets with my old job. I thoroughly enjoyed it most of the time. I grew as a person and I had some amazing experiences but it was time for the next chapter in my life and since I've done what some people think is crazy, I feel I have put my life on a great course to something big in the future. That's what I'm most excited about.

I Want My MTV

As most Canadians know by now, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council has deemed parts of 'Money For Nothing' by Dire Straits to be offensive and cannot be played on the radio in it's original form.

Before I say too much more we must remember that this is a rock 'n roll song. At the same time that's the whole point. It doesn't matter what is said or written we must stand up and defend everyone's right to say it. If what is said is wrong, hateful, or ridiculous, it will be judged as so.

There are two parts to free speech.

First, everyone is allowed to stand up and say what they believe. No matter how twisted or wrong it may be, if you believe it, you have the right to say it.

However, you will be judged by individuals and society on what you say. Sometimes, we seem to forget about the second part. Sometimes people think that free speech means that I can say what ever I want and I will not be judged. This is not the case. It should be judged.

By censoring other people's words we don't know everything they have said and can't properly judge them. We lose the complete picture and as such, we lose the proper context for the remaining parts. Without context we cannot see the whole picture.

I also wonder, who feels they are a guardian of what should be censored. Who has the right to say I can't be given the opportunity to judge for myself. Who's moral code is being used to decide this is offensive. The biggest problem with censorship is we don't get to see what is deemed offensive. How do we know that the censors are properly applying society's values. If we permit censorship we don't know. That's a big problem.

In the specific case of Money For Nothing, the song is 25 years old and almost everyone who cares, knows what the offending homophobic slurs are. That being said, the song doesn't really make sense without that verse.

We must stand up for free speech. The only path to enlightenment and understanding is through the sharing of uncensored ideas. Only by hearing what others truly believe can we understand our differences. Understanding our differences is the first step to accepting others and living in harmony. Anyone who does not want to live in harmony should be judged for their views.