Facebook trolls, online brand presence and swinging the bat.

A large amount of my energy as the founder, is directed at creating and nurturing community. A big part of this is social media and understanding how different platforms bring different audiences and ‘rules.’

Facebook Groups

I used to think my mum was the only person that used Facebook groups, when she wanted to buy a random cabinet. Little did I know, my mum had mastered the art of community - weaving a social network between towns, counties and interests one cabinet at a time.

So I started posting on Facebook as ‘Larnia’ representing Ryde. I don't know if it's a universal experience but the community groups can be wild 😂

I now spend a considerable chunk of time on Facebook, responding to comments ranging from ‘don’t get it’ to ‘looks like something from the big issue’ to ‘wow, you’re doing great.’

Having and maintaining a 'brand' presence can be daunting. Unless you stay generic, you're going into the world with a 'this is my business, personality, and view of the world so err.. hi.'

However, every opinion is valid and as Elon Musk says, criticism can worth its weight in gold. It’s how you get better.

Imagine The World Is A Big Yankee Game

Facebook got me thinking about success and the courage to 'do things differently.' It's so easy to sit behind a screen and criticise other people.

An analogy of New York Yankees Game came to mind.

Imagine the world is one big baseball game and everyone is given a bat. The pitcher is the best pitcher in the world. You’re told if you hit the home run you will win the big prize. You really want the prize - whether its money, success- you name it.

Everyone is given as many swings as they want and you can line up as many times as you want.

All you've got to do is hit the ball. Hit the home run.

When it comes to their chance most people won’t even swing, they’ll see the bowler, think 'no way he's way better than me I'll embarrass myself.'

So they’ll just put the bat home down and go home.

Most people will step up, take one swing, hear the crowd jeering, 'put the bat down, give someone else a chance’ - then they’ll put the bat down and walk away.

Then you’ll have one person grabs the bat, takes 10 swings. The crowd boo. The person does their best but eventually buckle under pressure, puts the bat down and goes home.

Then you’ll have that one person who hears the boos, hears the hate and keeps swinging.

And swinging.

At this point everyone is jeering:

'You’re selfish.' 'You're going to fail.'

7 hours pass. Still swinging. 8 hours in.

Ping, hit the ball. It’s a home run.

In that moment, the crowd start to cheer.

The batsman becomes a hero that 'happened' to get a home run. He got lucky. Nobody remembers or cares about the previous 8 hours, nobody sees the self doubt. They just hear the clink of the ball and erupt into wild celebrations.

The take home?

Most people don’t want to keep swinging - whether it's hitting a ball, losing weight, bettering yourself, taking up a new hobby. It's uncomfortable.

They hear the noise and hate and they give up.

That's the easy short term solution, it silences the negativity.

This is a reminder that nothing can happen until you swing the bat.

Keep swinging.

🏏