In moments like this, I think a lot about reactionary emotions. I’ve been there many times and social media makes it easy to react tweeting wild hot takes or posting commentary online at full speed like a crazy uncle. We all know what I mean. The thing is, I have found, that after all these years building and working in the world of social networking, is that it isn’t worth as much as we think.

Social media is the king of instant gratification. A post is made and the dopamine hits, surging through the brain as the likes and comments come in. There is little long-term reward in this process beyond that initial hit. The true benefactor is the social network itself, feeding off people’s emotions, warping reality for a few seconds more until it is gone and on to the next, stored in a server at Facebook’s headquarters forever.

I can post, comment, and record. I can tweet! But, the reality is that someone is out there, someone potentially a lot smarter and more driven, who is making moves. Real moves. They are organizing, studying, and game planning. They are raising money, putting their own money on the line, and marking dates on the calendar that they need to show up on.

And that’s the difference today. Do you want to be someone who posts on social media, fighting in the comments section? Or do you want to be someone who actually goes out and makes a positive change happen?

The point is, while social media is potentially a place to network and meet new people, it’s not a place for doing. I hate to say it, it’s mostly a really cheap soap opera being gamed and gimmicked by the minute to make people feel a certain way. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of you know me from Twitter, I’m deep in the scene. That’s also why it’s important to me to share some learnings: I believe there’s a decision to be made… post on social media or actually go out and change things for the better. There is a difference.