After years of running my pipe business and developing content online to share with others I have made some decisions to streamline the way I have been managing everything. 

One element that I have been struggling with for many years is the social media. Stepping away from the clutter of having an ongoing presence has been extremely satisfying. Here are a few things I have noticed from leaving the socials.

1. Numbers of followers doesn't translate to sales. I have had Instagram accounts with tens of thousands of followers. The bulk of followers hardly engage. Sales are generated through other avenues mostly with a small percentage coming from social media.
2. We are not meant to live on stage constantly. This is a new concept in human history. To be hovering over our smart phones and recording all our waking moments is simply not natural. Eliminating this distraction helps me to live in the present focusing on my core relationships. 
3. Scrolling through the medias as entertainment reduces the amount of attention due to the tangible realities that face us moment by moment. If my face is in my phone it's not noticing the live world in which we live in.
4. Time suck- Why create disposable online content? Whether one is trying to find the perfect song to accompany a video, make a video of our content, and promoting each post and then doing the maintenance of responding to comments, is often lost in an algorithm. You ever wonder why the stupidest thing you see gets millions of views and something you have created by hand and put all your hard earned efforts only gets through to a small audience. It just shows me how ridiculous the whole setup is! oh yeah, now I'm hitting some nerves. 
5. You're just not that great or you're unbelievably great! The perceptions we present are not our true selves. We put our best faces up and often are not vulnerable or the opposite and we over share. Why would one do either? I would rather be myself personally.
6. Disposable relationships. I know of many people who simply 'Mute' people they don't want to see. They say they're friends, but never comment or like anything you do. Are they really friends? Real friends interact with one another in personal conversations. 
7. Security issues and rude people. Just the other night some troll left a few damaging and hurtful comments on a social. I have no time for these insecure individuals. I also had some people overseas trying to uncover my political affiliations as a way to leverage themselves against me. In a world where Ai is becoming more pervasive It's becoming increasingly difficult to remain untethered by outside influences. 

In summary. I have met a handful of decent folks and have had some great interactions with some people I genuinely have come to know on a personal basis. I have made a name for myself and gathered attention from possible customers and social media has helped especially around 12 years ago when I was beginning to get onto YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. Going into the future I believe this will be much better for you as well. You won't have to scroll through a bunch of content to see me anymore and that is IF you see me. Just bookmark my site and when you are ready for a pipe it will be here for you and if you want real interaction feel free to email me like some have done already! I hope all who read this understand my concerns and decisions. Thank you for visiting!

Sincerely,

Paul

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