Social Media contemplations.

I have been breaking my social media ban here and there, just to see how bad it is. I haven’t quite decided if or how I want to use these platforms going forward. 

Mostly, I’ve discovered that Instagram isn’t that bad. There were a few people I followed who posted a lot of political stuff, so I discovered this really awesome feature called “mute”. That has and will continue to be my policy there. I don’t want to see it. I know you have the right to post it, and if that’s how you want to use your Instagram, that’s, of course, totally fine. It’s just not why I’m on Instagram and it’s my preference to not be confronted with political messages all the time. I just want to see people’s babies and puppies and pictures of beautiful fall leaves or snowmen, etc. You get the idea.

Facebook is a bit of a different animal. I used to really like Facebook. It was a fun way to connect and interact. But, like everything else, it’s evolved. It’s become less of all that and more of a way to let people who or what you dislike and for the big, bad FB monster to fill your feed full of content their AI has determined you will find interesting. 

Twitter, Snapchat, and TikTok are not an issue, as I don't use them and have no desire to change that. Oh, and apparently Pinterest is considered social media as well??? I'm guessing I don't use it right, because how that would work confuses me. I just go there to find recipes or ways to refinish my stairs if we ever get gutsy enough to yank the carpet off.

The biggest thing with all of this was sort of "named" for me in a podcast I was listening to recently. I could never really put my finger on what was so awful about all of it and how it made me feel and why I really, really wanted out. The guest on this podcast used a term that really just hit the nail on the head. He said we live in an outrage society. That's it. And social media just seems to take that idea and compound it by inviting more and more fuel on the fire. Somehow or other, that's apparently what we all have an insatiable appetite for. To be outraged. All the time. About everything. And everyone. And THAT is why I hate it. 

I don't want to be outraged.

I don't like feeling that way.

I don't want to only be able to see the bad, the wrong, the injustice, the failings, the broken.

I just don't want to feel outraged all the time. It's icky.

This does not mean that I want to bury my head in the sand and act like a deluded optimist. Those sort of people actually drive me crazy. By nature I'm a realist - maybe even with a touch of cynicism. And I know that there is a lot in this world that is deserving of outrage. And the more universally and internationally connected we are, the more of that sort of thing we are going to know about. There have always been and always will be evil in the world. People with power will always take advantage of those without. Nations and races and religions will always be at odds with each other. There will always be people who don't have enough to eat or a place to live. There will always be fires and floods and earthquakes and storms. That's how it is in this fallen world. That's the earth groaning under the curse of sin. And how we live until Christ's return. 

And I'm not saying that we should just accept that and move on. We should care. We should help where we can and live our lives in ways that diminish rather than promote injustices.

If nobody was ever outraged, nothing would ever change.

But knowing exactly how mad every one of my Facebook friends is about every injustice or annoyance or inconvenience all the time is not helpful. And it's not good for me. And I will not continue to consume it. 

There's also the time-suck, distraction aspect. Pretty much 100% of the time I have ever spent on social media could have been better spent in some other endeavor.

And there's the attention-seeking, self-absorbed aspect. I mean, really, that is the pared-down reality of why we post things. Look at me! Look at my life! Look at my house! Look at my kids! Look at my dog! Listen to my opinions! Whether it is to brag or complain, it's still just all about me. I need to spend less of my life on myself, not more. The very fact that we used to take pictures of things that happened, but now we plan the things that will happen around the pictures we will take of it (and then share with the world) is enough to make my head spin. 

And so.... I'm not sure where that leaves me. When I truly think about any of it, it just seems so trivial. So worthless. I don't want to live my life in a fake, manufactured, digital atmosphere any more than I want to feel outraged all the time. Not that using this particular venue (a blog) to do the same is really any more noble or worthy. 

Sigh.

I've had some 'complaints' (for lack of a better word) about my absence. I find it somewhat hilarious that my posting would be somehow missed. We'll see. My hope is that anything I do share will be encouraging and edifying to anyone who sees it. I want to use the tools I have at my disposal and connections that I make to point people to love and truth and family and joy, and most of all, to Jesus, without whom, I would have nothing at all to brag about. Whatever blessings (even the challenging ones) I have in my life are gifts, drawing me ever closer to Him.