I recently took a short break from social media (about 3 weeks). I did not post anything and minimized responding to messages. I had a TikTok video receive over 100 000 views and hundreds of comments. I read all the comments, and this made me think of some of the risks that social media can have on people's finances. A part of me was happy and another part of me was heartbroken. Seeing what people believe about money, life and investing sort of scared me when I realized there is a lot of work to do when it comes to giving people the right and proper information about money and investing. I do not like to play the blame game, but the Government and major financial institutions have dropped the ball on financial literacy. So, in this blog post I am going to be discussing how exactly social media hurts you financially and what you can do about it.
Let me say this first...
In my humble opinion, there is nothing inherently wrong with social media. Afterall these are just apps. It is our choice to use them, and it is our choice how we use them. Humans can use almost anything to disrupt their financial well-being. The problems we have are problems we have always had as a society. The challenge now is that social media has really exposed our problems and that is what we struggle with today.
I do not want to preach, and I am going to keep this post lighthearted, but I really wanted to say this. I want everyone to financially succeed. If you want financial success you are going to have to understand that "making money" is just one part of it. There are plenty of things involved in financial success.
Here is a quick exercise I would like for you to try...
Ask yourself right now...
Do my opinions about life move me forward financially or not?
Does the content I consume make me money or not?
Do my actions lead to financial growth or not?
If I read the last 10 comments I made on social media, what do they say about my finances?
The Cliches you already know but ignore.
We all know the cliche things that hurt us financially that social media leads too. I do not want to focus on them in this article, however I will briefly remind you of them.
These are:
Comparing yourself to others (especially your high school and university friends).
Comparing your life to other people and then competing with people will lead you to spend money on things you do not need. So many people go to restaurants, events, buy clothes, buy cars etc. just for photos and likes on Instagram. I know that life very well and you can never win playing that game. There is always one more friend doing better than you. It gets worse when we attempt to also use people just to look better on social media. This all leads to spending instead of saving and investing. Thus, preventing us from truly being financially free. Avoid this. If you find yourself comparing your life to other people, ask yourself why you are doing this and use it as an exercise to get to know yourself better. Most of the time we compare ourselves because we are trying to fill a gap somewhere. (lol I am wearing my psychology hat right now)
Copy other people's investment decisions.
It is okay to look at what other people are investing in, but you must do your own research. Make sure that your investment decisions are truly your own. It is your money. A lot of people have lost money by blindly following what other people are doing on social media. The issue with copying other people is that it makes you a lazy investor. Being lazy and looking for the easy way to make money is the quickest way to lose money. There is no such thing as a fast, no risk, money making machine. It will lead you down the path of my next point...
Following scams and hoping to make money from them.
Social media sites have a lot of scams. Sadly, people sometimes also actively look for scams to invest in. How? A culture of loving Ponzi schemes aka "amabhanoyi" is strong in South Africa. Why? Because quick money thinking has become the norm. The corruption in our society is fueled by the desire for quick money. Social media makes this thinking a lot worse. People see other people with fancy cars, fancy friends, fancy clothes, fancy vacations and then in a desperate attempt to speed up their financial growth they voluntarily give money to scams that promise 30% per month plus no risk.
So, those are the standard ways social media can ruin your finances. Now, let's discuss what I really want to tell you.
Your Most Valuable ASSET and RESOURCE...
There is something more valuable than your time, yes you read that right. I know you have heard it said that "time is your most valuable asset" or that "time is money", but I assure you that time is not as valuable as this one resource...
"Your Attention"... Don't believe me?
All the top social media companies are worth hundreds of billions in dollars, let me put that into perspective... Facebook, Twitter, Google and TikTok all put together are worth $2 trillion US Dollars. That is about R34 Trillion (thirty-four trillion South African Rands) and they generate at least a R1 Trillion in income per year. How? Because they have your attention, and many people are willing to pay for your attention.
Heck, to get you here, reading this, you most likely discovered Money Mondays via a social media advert. So, I had to pay for your attention in order to give You information that you could use to make your finances better. That is how valuable your attention is. But why?
Because what you give attention to is what your life becomes. It is what you end up spending money on. If I want you to buy a product from me or think the way I do, I first have to have your attention.
(Sidenote: Join one of my Weekly Classes on Easy Equities and master the platform. R99)
The question for you now becomes...
What have you been spending your attention on?
If you do not like your financial situation, the first place to start is not with fixing your finances. That will not work. You start by fixing what you pay attention to. Read that again, we say "Pay Attention", why? Because "attention" is a currency, it is money, and you can "pay" for things with it. (lol think of all the free apps you use; they make you pay for using them through your attention).
That clothing credit you owe, that night you overspent your money and that car that is taking half your salary. All of it is because of what you have paid attention to.
Spend your attention on the wrong things and you will end up in places you do not wish to be in. This is where social media becomes powerful.
Social media is hurting your finances because it gives you rubbish to pay attention to. Rubbish that will get you nowhere in life. There is nothing wrong with a little entertainment but most of us can take it too far. Nobody has ever gotten rich by spending two hours on Instagram watching big bootys, people on vacations, celebrities and arguing with people on twitter and listening to useless politicians. You have to be more proactive with what you give your attention too.
But, Omega, I found you on social media...
You can use social media for your good or bad.
On the TikTok video I mentioned at the beginning of this blog post, there were people who said,
"Investing is for white people only",
"Investing is for the rich",
"Investing does not work",
"Investing is evil capitalism",
"Buying shares makes big people rich"
"Shares take too long to make money"
Where did they get all these opinions?
They paid attention to things that have resulted in them having opinions that are holding back their lives. Do an audit on all your opinions and ask yourself "how is believing this working for me", then find out where did you get that opinion, and ask yourself if you want to pay with your attention for your own destruction.
So, Omega, I hear you but What should I do?
Align your actions with your goals. Importantly align what you pay attention to with where you want to go in life. Feed your mind things that enrich your life. You have not been saving or investing because you have been paying attention to things that don't encourage you to do so.
My final thoughts...
If we looked at your financial statement, who would it say you are?
If we looked at what you watched on social media, who would it say you are?
Trust me when I say the entertainers, celebrities, politicians, arguments, handsome men, beautiful girls with big booty's, the gossip, your fake friends etc. will all do fine with one less person paying attention to them on social media... and so might just your money.
Happy Investing
-Omega
Remember: Opinions expressed in this article do not and never will constitute financial advice. Every person's financial situation is different, I recommend you speak to a financial adviser about yours
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