The Dark Side of Social Media: From Rage Bait to Dopamine Addiction

How much of your life have you spent wasting away, scrolling every time you’re bored?

Each moment of idleness at work leads you to browse Instagram, your blood pressure rising with every piece of rage bait.

The cheap entertainment, the dopamine hits—you’re a slave to them.

But you work full time, and scrolling is your way of disassociating out of this existence.

Remember when you were passionate about your hobbies?

Remember when you had time for your hobbies?

The idea of turning your passion into a profitable career excites you, but you’re stuck.

You lack the resources and time to quit your job, and making this leap seems impossible in this economy.

Many people face this dilemma.

They want to make a living doing what they love.

They start dabbling in content creation, hoping to strike gold on platforms like YouTube or Twitch, but without a solid plan, their efforts often fizzle out.

They struggle with repeating tasks, inconsistent posting, and the inability to sustain any accidental virality they might achieve—much like winning a lottery ticket but having no way to manage the winnings.

The pain of this cycle is so real.

Burnout sets in, opportunities for monetization slip away, and the dream of leaving the corporate grind fades.

Meanwhile, social media keeps you hooked, constantly rage-baited and addicted to fleeting moments of cheap joy.

Where do we go wrong?

The Consumption Trap

Let’s be real, social media sucks.

You find yourself constantly caught in comment section battles, where you hurl all your contributions into the void.

Social media, while a fertile ground for ideas, discourse, and hobbies, often traps you in a cycle of passive consumption, scrolling endlessly through a feed filled with mindless garbage.

The way you use social media not only wastes your time but also prevents you from realizing your true potential.

It could be a powerful tool for your personal growth, professional development, and creative expression.

But to harness this power, you need to shift your mindset from being a consumer to thinking like a creator.

My Journey: From Consumer to Creator

Last year, I started my newsletter on a whim, and it has been a game-changer.

What began as a casual project quickly became an easy and enjoyable way to dive deep into my hobbies and interests, all while building a substantial body of knowledge.

This process has helped me structure my thoughts, refine my ideas, and engage with social media in a purposeful and impactful way.

I just wrote one article per week about the things I was already watching.

Despite minimal promotion, I’ve steadily gained new readers and subscribers, and I’ve generated enough content to fill a book in just one year.

Imagine the potential for your own journey!

Especially when it’s the things you wished you had more time for.

Join me and see how these strategies can revolutionize your approach to social media, turning it from a time-waster into a powerful tool for personal growth, fulfillment, and income.

Blueprint for Change

Transforming your perspective on social media from a passive consumer to an active creator is essential to escaping the misery of unfulfilled potential.

Business is more than just transactions; it’s a spiritual journey that aligns with your deeper purpose.

If you’re trapped in a cubicle, toiling away at a job that barely pays the bills, it’s time for an urgent identity shift.

Remaining caged like that is nothing short of spiritual suicide.

Here’s how to change that mindset:

Instead of seeing yourself as just an employee, start viewing yourself as a consultant with one primary client—your employer.

Use your free time with this client to work on attracting others.

If you fail to make this mental shift, you remain blind to the higher returns your efforts could achieve beyond your current employer, whose low wages are trapping you in poverty.

By embracing this new identity, you’ll find yourself happier, healthier, and wealthier.

You’ll be doing something you love, eliminating the daily commute, and keeping engaged at work, turning idle scrolling into productive, fulfilling activity.

Change Your Social Media, Change Your Destiny

To overcome your unhealthy relationship with social media, we’re going to replace it with productive and fulfilling habits.

Follow these steps:

1. Establish a Purpose-Driven Profile: 

• Create a brand new, blank slate Instagram account.
• Engage ONLY with content that aligns with your special interests and ideal life.
• Mainly interact with the algorithm related to your interests to understand what works.
• Avoid ALL cheap dopamine.
• Embrace the mindset that success feels natural (‘lucky girl or guy syndrome’) and other people will see this.

Expertise Is Not Required: One common misconception is that you need to be an expert to share content online. However, embracing the practice of learning in public can be incredibly effective. You’re not expected to know everything. Instead, share your journey of growth and learning. This authenticity not only fosters a deeper connection with your audience but also empowers your personal development.

2. Engage with Intent: 

• Switch to your original account when seeking entertainment or conflict.
• On your purpose-driven account, stay focused.
• Don’t get mad, get paid.
  • When you feel the urge to comment, stop & think, “Do I have something to add to this conversation?” or “Is this an idea I’ve never heard before?”
  • If yes, brain dump all the context you can think of into ChatGPT and turn it into your own synthesized article.
    • Post comments to ChatGPT instead of social media to create constructive content without additional effort.
• Publish your evolving thoughts openly.

Overcoming Online Embarrassment: Posting online might feel cringe-worthy at first, but overcoming this discomfort is a crucial step towards success. Successful creators don’t judge beginners harshly; in fact, everyone starts somewhere. Remember, prominent YouTubers like Mr. Beast didn’t start with perfect videos. Embrace what I call the ‘LaMarr learning method’: adopt the persona of a creator, share freely, and disregard the baseless judgments of those who don’t create. This boldness is the key to genuine change.

3. Expand Your Digital Footprint: 

• As you encounter challenges in your hobby or interest, document your process.
• Note the problem, brainstorm potential solutions, narrate your thought process, or talk to ChatGPT.
• Compile these insights into a newsletter with solutions for others interested in that hobby.
• If you use a newsletter as your foundational piece of content, you can conveniently break it down into types of content without rewriting or researching anything else.
• Study popular creators’ videos and “steal like an artist” (not copying!) to emulate their proven-success method.

Social Media as a Tool, Not Vanity: The notion that social media is for attention whores is outdated. Today, platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter are tools for leveraging attention economically. They allow you to reach a broader audience, share your message, and build a lucrative brand.

4. Streamline Your Creative Process: 

• Start with a simple newsletter.
• Document everything, turning notes into digital products and lead magnets.
• For example, do a brain dump after you’re inspired, use ChatGPT to turn it into better premium content or a detailed guide. Just make it as quickly as possible.

Fear of Failure: The fear of failure and how others perceive you can be paralyzing. However, transitioning to content creation is not a binary pass/fail scenario. It’s about exploration and finding your voice. Remember, you don’t need millions of followers to be successful; cultivating a small, engaged community of about 100 true fans can be enough to leave your job.

By following these steps, you can efficiently transition into the creator economy while continuing to work full-time.

By skipping these steps, you risk remaining trapped in your toxic relationship with social media and miss the chance to break out of the matrix.

Failing to make each comment, article, and interaction meaningful means you’re wasting your potential lottery tickets.

Learn With Me!

Join me in this journey and learn how to set up the exact systems to transition into the creator economy.

Follow my new instagram page to follow my journey as I apply these techniques myself.

Don’t wait to be replaced by AI before you start your journey into fulfilling your life purpose.

Next week I will teach you how to set up the systems that will make it stupid easy to automate everything and scale as a beginner.

Follow my journey to see how quickly these tactics can help you grow.

Stay Curious,

Addie LaMarr