I Hope NOT to Slide into “Addiction.”

This week, I published an unprecedented TWO articles on Medium…in one day, no less (that was a coincidence; see explanation and “friend links” below).  I’m pleased with both of them.  But I’m also worried about an old problem returning…

One of the pieces,“Finding Myself: 10 Months on Medium, 43 Years in Journalism,” was, to my delight, an “Editor’s Pick–Top 10.”  It was about my history as a writer and what it’s like to write (15 books and over 200 articles later) for an online platform.

As I mention in the piece, I first became aware of a sea change in publishing when Consequential Strangers came out in 2009.   I almost killed myself trying to make the book into a best seller.

What was I thinking? Lightening doesn’t strike twice unless you’re Stephen King or Danielle Steele.  Consequential Strangers sold a respectable number of copies, but nothing close to Secrets of the Baby Whisperer which was a bestseller and, twenty years later, is still selling.

In “Finding Myself” for Medium, I cited an article I wrote in 201- about my worsening “addiction” to social media, which then was still in its infancy.  Fascinating now to reread “The Audacity of Hype” .

It was a slow slide, as addictions usually are. Whereas I initially felt self-conscious posting my “status,” I soon became a sideshow barker. I posted videos of myself talking about the book. I promoted my blog and media appearances (though I also commented on others’ posts and shared cute stories about my grandsons). Today, I not only have a home page but also a group page and several event pages—and that’s just on Facebook. It requires attention. My eyes burn; my back aches; I’m constantly distracted. My loved ones express concern, but I can’t seem to stop myself. I am powerless over social media, and my life has become unmanageable because of it

The article ran in Publisher’s Weekly,  a cautionary tale to other writers who might believe that the “democratization” of the Internet would make it easier for an author to “go viral.”  That never happened–although the book is still available on Amazon.

Little did I know that eleven years later, so-called nerds, the guys (and a few gals) who understand our online habits would be warning us that addiction is not just a metaphor. As Craig the Computer Guy, writes, “User Engagement” Is Code for “Addiction”

When looking back at this era of humanity future humans will say, “How could they have just scrolled and scrolled all day? Didn’t they know what it was doing to them?” Social media is the new cigarettes. Everyone does it, it’s addictive, it’s harmful, and you should quit.

In 2010, when I likened my quest for recognition to “addiction,” it was because I felt out of control.  I had no idea that Big Tech — companies like Google and Facebook — were using all of us,  highjacking our attention, making money from the nano-seconds of time we spend here and there online.

I have since watched “The Social Dilemma,” a documentary on Netflix that will give you an amazing and frightening overview of our current crisis of attention. I also recommend a fascinating article in the New York Times, “I Talked to the Cassandra of the Internet Age, about Michael Goldhaber, a man who tried to warn us years ago. I’ll be writing about this issue, I’m sure, most importantly because I want to at least remind myself of the struggle to attend to what’s most important in our lives.  As my dear departed (at almost 105) friend Zelda said, “Time is all we have.”

I admit: I enjoy the claps and clicks, the follow and mentions.  With each, you give me a piece of your attention.  So thank you.  I will at least try to make your time well spent.

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Links to the Articles

• It’s Groundhog Day Everywhere–and This is Why Each Day Flies By
• Finding Myself: 10 Months on Medium, 43 Years in Journalism 

For the record, although these two came out on the same day, each was written and edited over the course of weeks.  I finally “tweaked” each sufficiently and decided to upload one after the other for “curation” on Medium–a process resulting in editors actually choosing and promoting particular pieces.  Most writers on the platform are never curated.  To my delight, both were accepted immediately and given high praise!  As I wrote in “Finding Myself,” that will keep me going:

Medium rewards me with claps, followers, mentions, highlights, comments, retweets, and the $5.63 deposited into my bank account last month — up from 19 cents the month before. They all keep me coming back for more.