Loren Feldman Says Good Bye To Social Media

Yesterday I went to see what my friend Loren Feldman of 1938 media was saying on twitter. Loren Feldman is not really my friend, we've never spoken to each other or met, but in the world of social media, if you've heard of someone, they are your friend. For us to think otherwise, would be just nonsense. Discussions and thoughts of real friendships have no place in social media, it's all about the electronic message.

When I searched for Loren's twitterfeed, it was gone. This was obviously an issue with my computer, as Loren was an active and entertaining voice on twitter. So I checked again. Gone. This was surprising to me, and I know shocking to others whose entire existence revolves around the twitter bird.

Then I found this on Loren's blog:

Apparently quitting a twitter and YouTube account with a bunch of followers seems to be unreal to a good portion of people. OMG did you lose your mind?

Loren Feldman is a big thorn in the side of all the losers who see social media as a road to riches, as something that defines their existence, as a "real" world of "friends." Social media evangelists hate Loren, because for one, he makes videos (all now deleted from the internet) that can be summed up with this message:

Are you people kidding me?

Loren attacks the phonys, the frauds, the ones whose image is nothing more than a twitter account and Facebook fan page. He goes after those in social media who have attempted to make money off telling people what they already know, while trying to convince them that the riches will follow if only their advice is heeded.

I never did this to get rich or famous. I did it because somebody had to. I was never truly comfortable with the role either. I am so different than the guy people “thought” they knew. I guess those acting lessons paid off. That’s not to say it wasn’t me. It was. It was the me I needed to be for the task at hand. Nobody wants truth. People want Snooki.

This is how Loren speaks, he has no time for the superficial that permeate the internet these days with nothing of any importance to say.

We have collectively learned nothing. Years later and the same idiotic feuds, the same dopey mistakes. You wont be happy till Zuck and the likes take it all from you. That’s what they are doing you know. What they are taking is your time, and more importantly your intent.

He explains Facebook:

You can only do 3 things on The Facebook.

1. Play games.
2. Talk about yourself.
3. Talk about your “friends”

Then he talks about life outside Facebook:

When you conduct a search you are outside of yourself. You are “searching” for something.

1. Knowledge
2. Information
3. Something you want to know more about.
4. Someone you DON’T know.

Then he smacks us all in the face, hard:

Facebook and twitter do not expand your universe. They constrict it. They put you in a box and look to keep you there.

Loren puts the exclamation point on his goodbye to social media with a rant close to my heart:

No one would ever speak up. C’mon don’t deny it. They were too afraid to say anything for themselves. So they let me do the dirty work for them. They were too afraid of losing money, followers, whatever. What they really lost was themselves. When you censor your own voice, your own gut, you lose so much more than a few bucks. You lose what makes you special. How many emails did I get saying right on, I support you. Many. I would say to these people “Why don’t you say it in public?” The answer was always the same. “I can’t risk it.” Risk what exactly? Money? Followers? What could possibly be more important than your own convictions? As soon as you say “I can’t” you’ve already lost.

Here’s the real secret to social media and how you can conquer it. Don’t be afraid of your beliefs. Don’t lose your voice, and don’t let anyone scare you into silence. No one respects a person like that. I might have been hated by many, but I had respect by all. Step up to the plate and take a cut at the ball. Doesn’t matter if you whiff. You will be in the game.

Man up, grow a pair, and say exactly what you mean and feel. When a few more of you start to do that social media might start to mean something. Until then. It doesn’t matter.

Yep, until then, "it," and you, doesnt matter.

See Ya Loren, Good luck.

Located in Miami, Florida, Brian Tannebaum practices Bar Admission and Discipline and Criminal Defense. He is the author of I Got A Bar Complaint.