The days of social media have gotten us so “engaged” in each others’ lives…virtually engaged. At the beginning of this year I came off most social media sites: facebook, instagram, etc. I know—the majors. I kept twitter mostly for work/educational purposes, but rarely viewed it. As a result I had to continually remind my friends (my real ones) that if you want me to know something, “You’re going to have to tell me, not tag me.” It’s wild that that is such an abnormal idea these days. I fear for the millenials and beyond.
One common question I heard during this transition was, “Oh are you fasting?” My response, “No, I am just off of social media and I feel better for it.” My mind was clearer, I was focused on things that mattered; things that required my full attention. I became more intentional to spend time with people in real life, to check on people in person – to engage in this new invention called “eye contact”. Try it – it’s amazing! 🙂 I had to get “offline” to get back “inline”. It became so draining, so dissatisfying! I needed to detox from the whole system of caring about likes (to be honest I really didn’t care about that part) and perusing others’ posts and profiles and get inline with making time for family, friends, proper rest and accomplishing goals instead. For the purposes of this website I am back to using Facebook, but only to engage others —I login and log right back out. I refuse to allow myself to sit idle anymore and allow time to fly by and have nothing of value to show for it; especially when I knew God had called me to greater things. Yikes.
Social media does have its notable benefits, naturally, but I do challenge you all to assess your use of social media and find a healthy balance. I found mine and am better off for it! Please share your tricks on how you manage your social media mania.
Thanks! Joycy
by Prince Ea
Joycy Ann Unplugged 