- I have written a book and the publisher obviously wants to spread the word. Do I want to spread the word? Yes, I also want to spread the word. Why? Because I think it's a good book and it might help some people. So I try to create content to spread the word. This results in 80% of people coming across this content thinking "I don't need that, that's marketing", vs. 20% who might think "Great, I need that".
- If I want to join a new company, a technical blog or active developer advocates help me decide. I can get a sense of a company culture through what they chose to post and whom they hire for their advocate roles.
- Twitter, LinkedIn etc. are a complete waste of time for me personally. But again, other people build their presents their to sell you their ideas. Is it legit? Sure, why not. How else do you get informed about new ideas and thoughts?
All of that means there is tons of noise, since everyone is using the same channel (s), and for you, the consumer, means you have to filter these channels _a lot_.
I think in the current day&age, where computation and technology is part of every day life, your job description changes, and educating and "spreading the word" is part of it. But, this can be done in an authentic manner. You don't have to lie, or put up a big show. Writing and exposing your ideas can also help identifying who you are and getting in touch with people and the community can help shaping your thoughts and reflecting back on yourself.
So all in all, these environments are great for narcissists and "bubble people" , which is "bad", but I personally just see these social media platforms as channels now of information, where I can get new insights, articles and ideas from.
I personally restrict the usage of these platforms now to exactly this: Inflow of information. I am building actively a social network which is close to me, has nothing to do with being online. But I, every now and then, try to contribute to the online discourse through articles and blog posts.
What I find liberating is seeing how other professions are doing this: I follow endurance sports and psychology on YouTube, and what they do is is basically teaching and answering questions.