Jeff Shuck

Father, occasional windsurfer, on-again off-again electronic musician, lover of LEGO, full-time change agent, founder and CEO of Plenty, founder and former CEO of Event 360, fundraising and strategy consultant, board member of Invisible Children, graduate student in predictive analytics. Committed to unlocking the abundance around us – grab the rope and pull.

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Leaving the Facebook Ecosystem

I posted this on Facebook and Instagram this morning.

It’s funny, I’ve really cut down on my Facebook time this year – January 6th was an inflection point for me, and right afterwards I deleted the app from my phone, which took away about 90% of the use cases for me. I kept Instagram and have been posting some daily affirmations but have mainly stayed away from posting or participating in the kind of inane finger-pointing diatribes that I tended to get sucked into.

But still, I felt a bit of a pang last night as I read the news about Francis Haugen’s testimony — like a person who used to smoke two cartons a week, then a pack a day, then wakes up finally to realize, wow, I can’t stand the smell of it anymore. There’s a bit of nostalgia and a bit of musing about how I could ever have thought it was healthy.

One thing I see clearly is how pervasive it is — even finding links to my profiles on this site has taken a while. It has seeped into everything.

I also see how much Facebook benefits from creating a dependent, self-defeating FOMO in people — you have to be here or you’ll miss out. You have to market here or you won’t grow. You have to consume here or you won’t be informed. You have to share here or you won’t be seen.

And yet, if you use Facebook you are in a large part handing your sight over to someone else. It’s hard to miss out on something that isn’t real in the first place, and I don’t trust what they are showing me any more. Or rather, I trust what they are showing me is 100% to their benefit rather than mine. It’s a great big world out there, and I’d rather see it unfiltered through my own smaller lenses than skewed through Mark Zuckerberg’s tunnel-vision glasses.

In any case, this felt good to write.

I don’t feel good about supporting the Facebook ecosystem any longer.

I know that losing my one-three billionth of support won’t impact Facebook in the slightest — but I’m sure that dropping it from my life will make a positive difference on me.

I’m leaving my profiles up mainly to ensure that they aren’t usurped by international criminal bots, or worse, technocrats from Menlo Park.😉 I’ll pop in from time-to-time to wipe the dust away, but I don’t look at or respond to messages here anymore.

There are a lots of ad- and algorithm-free ways to reach me if you are so inclined. I invite you to join Plenty’s mailing list at www.plentyconsulting.com. For a more personal slant on things, you can also find me at www.yourpartmatters.com. And for me with an 80s filter, check out www.oneroomschoolhousemusic.com.

Take good care. Your part matters. Be gentle with yourself.

[jeffshuck]

Father's Day thoughts.

Last week I published a few thoughts about my dad for Plenty. It felt so wonderful to write and even better to share. The encouragement I received from family, friends, and people who just happened to find the post was truly heartwarming.

Wow, has it taken a long time, but it’s getting easier.

I invite you to read the post here. And Happy Father’s Day to you and yours.

[jeffshuck]

Is this on?

Yes!

It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted here. Lately I’ve been thinking about why.

A few years ago — well, more like five years ago — I was in a great groove of writing three or four times a week. It was wonderful. I would wake up, feel into what was moving me, and write a short post.

A couple of things happened. The biggest is that I left my old company, Event 360, and started Plenty. That work, while gratifying, took a lot of my time. The second is that I got serious about journaling, and made a commitment to write to myself every day. Most of that scrawling … well, let’s just say it’s hard for me to read, let alone subjecting anyone else to it.

But I think something else happened, too. I kind of lost my sense of what I’d write outside of what I write for Plenty. For a while, I figured everything I had to say should go on Plenty’s site. And maybe that’s true. But I have so many interests that don’t necessarily fit there… and as a result, I basically stopped writing in both places.

But I’m here, well, and leaning into writing more. Not sure how you found this, but I’m glad you’re here too.

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All is well. #lightboxwisdom (at Duneland Beach, Indiana)

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What the heck... #lightboxwisdom (at Stop 35)

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Magical. #bigwater (at Keewaydin Island)

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How 'bout it? #lightboxwisdom (at Fiddler's Creek, Naples, Florida)

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We knew all along, right? ;-) #lightboxwisdom (at Fiddler's Creek, Naples, Florida)

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First day back at work? #lightboxwisdom (at Fiddler's Creek, Naples, Florida)

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We need it! #lightboxwisdom (at Fiddler's Creek, Naples, Florida)

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Go for it. (at Cambier Park)

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Every day can be New Year's Day, because every day you can begin anew. (at Fiddler's Creek, Naples, Florida)

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Happy new year! Let's see more of you. #lightboxwisdom (at Fiddler's Creek, Naples, Florida)

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Happy New Year, dear friends. May you know you are right where you are supposed to be. The best is yet to come! (at Marco Island South Beach)

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2017 here we come... #lightboxwisdom (at Fiddler's Creek, Naples, Florida)

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You've got this. #lightboxwisdom (at Fiddler's Creek, Naples, Florida)

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True enough. #lightboxwisdom (at Fiddler's Creek, Naples, Florida)