Social Media

For those of us that tend to be insecure already, social media is a nightmare!  For those of us that actually care what people think (way too much, I know), social media is like emotional suicide.   To realize you have been blocked - and then to sit and try to figure out who you made mad "this time" or what you did or said wrong "this time".  To realize that someone who is your "friend" has prevented you from seeing anything on their page - wow, now that is friendship.  Can you explain to me why I am even on your "friend list"?  To be "un-friended" - yeah, well, that speaks for itself.  To realize that you spend way to much time worrying about ANY of these factors - ridiculous.

I have deactivated my Facebook account several times over the past few weeks for 24 hours at a time to force myself to regroup and refocus and spend time with my FAMILY.... my precious little boy who is WAY more important than social media.  Strangely enough, I only received one message via text to make sure I was "ok".   My leaving did not cause an uproar.  Nobody "missed" me.  The world did not come to an end.  There were no tragic accidents.  I really don't think anyone noticed that I was gone. Maybe I should worry about this?

I have started limiting what I post to Facebook, who can see what I post, and just how much "personal" information I post.  I am trying to be careful how much emotional baggage I post on Facebook.  Nobody has really noticed.  I have not been flooded with people who are concerned.  My emotions are not anyone else's business or concern.  My temper tantrums ... nobody really needs to hear about them or wants to hear about them (except maybe the funny ones...just kidding).

I think social media has given us an excuse to NOT have to be social.  It has given us an excuse to gossip.... and the ammunition to do so.  It has given us the opportunity to silently judge others in the privacy of our own homes.

Social media takes up way to much of our time.  Dinners are disrupted by dings and rings of status updates that we must check right away.  Meetings are filled with vibrations from cell phones alerting us to new private messages.  This doesn't even take into account the endless hours playing the games that many get sucked into.  As if it is not enough to worry about who likes who, now we have to plant farms, build cities, fight opposing enemies, and match our colored tiles.  Wait, we cannot forget to play our Bingo games!  People are constantly scrolling through pages and pages of updates just to see what is going on in everyone else's lives.... while taking valuable time away from their own family.  I have seen parents tell their child to "hush" because they are busy playing Facebook games yet then we want to know why we don't have a relationship with our kids... hmmmm.

Don't get me wrong.  I think that it is amazingly wonderful to be able to be in touch with those from our childhood.  It is awesome to see needs and pray for them.  It is incredible to know that someone needs help and to try to find ways to bless them.  I have gotten some of the best encouragement from reading a Facebook message or someone's post of an uplifting picture.  It is a great tool for sharing news and keeping in touch.  I just think that so much of its awesomeness, amazing-ness, incredible-ness, and greatness is lost when it becomes a god to us.

Do we spend even a fraction of the time with God that we spend on social media?  Do we really pray for those who share requests or are we busy ooh-ing and ahhh-ing over the latest gossip?  Do we get up and get on social media before we spend time with God?  Which comes first?

Just some of my thoughts.....