About seven years ago, Ryan Cooney quit Facebook. The social media platform “gets to people,” he said, and he needed a break.
In the meantime, Cooney, a golf pro, focused on his non-profit, the Canadian Youth Golf Alliance, teaching kids not only golf skills, but life skills as well.
He also put his energy into his business, Under Par Finance, a financing company for golf courses, which also benefits youth charities.
When Cooney decided to re-join Facebook around a year and a half ago, he didn't just add to the never-ending flow of cat and baby photos that seem to dominate the social media platform.
He decided to write about the various “selves” that people are in different aspects of his life — he previously developed this theory for a class he taught to at-risk youth.
“Each post would be me doing some self-therapy on a self that I wanted to examine,” Cooney said.
He has now expanded these posts into a new self-published book entitled “Book of Faces: A Selves Help Facebook Journey,” which he officially released last month at a release party.
Cooney said he has already sold out his first printing of 150 books, and is ordering another run.
Among Cooney's “selves” are his technological self, swearing self, game-changer self, writer self, promising self and bad-ass self.
His technological self, for example, is how he behaves in relation to technology.
People are addicted to social media and their phones, and how communication through texting is often difficult, because it's hard to interpret tone through a text message, he said.
As for his swearing self, Cooney explains he grew up in Copper Cliff, a rather blue collar town, and swears a lot, but that's very different from how he behaves in a professional context such as on LinkedIn.
What Cooney really wants people to do is examine their various “selves” and see how they can improve that small aspect of who they are.
“How can I be a better person is a really difficult, broad thing for people to grasp,” he said.
“But if you say OK, how can I be a better friend? Well, pick up the phone in call. If you examine your friend self, and you say, what's my communication like with my friends?
“Well, I don't really communicate as much as I should. How can I change that strategy? You're examining that self alone. That way you can change.”
If you're interested in ordering a copy of “Book of Faces,” contact Cooney through the book's Facebook page. The book costs $25.
