How many times I’ve tried to quit social media… and failed. I take breaks. I look in less often… and yet, there it is. Do I stay engaged? There are times when it irritates the living daylights out of me because there is far too much lack of discernment about those I thought to be “Christian” and I am too often left with my jaw on the floor.
Yet, there are some things to stay engaged with because there is such a serious lack of discernment. These are wise words:
Read moreMark Zuckerberg was testifying again on Capitol Hill about Facebook ads and “truth.”
This gets into the area of “free speech” and “fake news” and “false advertising” and at the end of it all we have a mess. But it’s not the mess Mark Zuckerberg created.
Read moreI have dropped away from social media for a time. Call it a “Holy Spirit timeout.” The rebuke came this morning when I was in a men’s Bible study and we were reading in 2 Timothy 2. This phrase in v. 25 stuck out:
Read moreOur current era of high anxiety has been fed directly by our addiction to social media. It has given social media hackers and experts all the fuel they need to exploit and manipulate an entire culture in ways we would laugh at a generation or two ago.
Read moreI am tired. Weary. The news… social media… all around I am confronted with how we are behaving as Americans… as Christians…
I am tired. Weary. Read more
“Social media fast” is over for me.
To which I say with all sincerity…
“Oh, Facebook, how I have not missed you… not one iota. The junk is still there.”
To this point I’ve done somewhat well on “fasting” from social media.
But it doesn’t mean I still don’t catch “what’s hot,” because even the “news” has to report it.
I only read the headlines because I just don’t get it.
Something about a dress.
I may never go back to social media again. 🙂
I am working hard to be away from social media, in that I’m not checking it. My blog posts show up. But I’m trying to save a lot of hours, literally, by staying off social media. But I couldn’t resist this comic strip.
One of the challenges for Lent this year is “giving up” social media. I need to break myself of this addiction in my life.
However, I will still be blogging. And I tie my blog to my Twitter and Facebook accounts so more people have an opportunity to see what I post.
I also realize it’s way easier to post a comment or “like” (or dislike) something on Facebook, so I want to invite those are interested into a conversation HERE instead. It will take a lot of effort on my part to not check Facebook and Twitter during this fast, but that is my goal. So, if you may happen to comment on something you see, it will hopefully be either from this blog or a verse I tweeted from Biblegateway. I will do my best to NOT see it there…
If you would like to comment on something I post, please visit the blog here and feel free to comment.
Ash Wednesday is coming up and I will be taking my break then.
This is a season of incredible opportunity to hear from God and I need the distractions minimized. But I want to keep sharing the journey with any who happen by this blog. God is up to something GOOD in these days. Let’s take this journey together!
So, Facebook spent some time manipulating things people saw on Facebook to gauge their reactions…
There are far to many random thoughts here to make this post coherent at all. Here we go:
Facebook manipulated post feeds to gauge how people would react… Sounds like another day of reading headlines on CNN or Fox News to me.
Facebook experimented with a site they let people use for free… and people who pay nothing to use the site are mad because they have been manipulated… We complain so readily about things we never pay for, demanding change without putting any capital into the project to make sure the changes happen… And somehow we’re offended… I’m still scratching my head on this one.
On the other hand, for the executives at Facebook to have any indignation toward the NSA, or to be angry at others for using Facebook to “bully” people… well, they’ve lost that “moral” high ground I think.
But for us as users… we need a grip. Not just in regards to Facebook, but in regards to letting small things swing our emotions so readily. We allow headlines to do it. We allow politicians to manipulate their words. We allow false statements to enrage us all the time.
Facebook isn’t the only one manipulating emotions. It happens all around us. Know why? We let it. We don’t read the headline carefully, or read beyond the headline, and we get mad. We read too many stories that bring our spirits down and do nothing to stop the flow of bad news… like, I don’t know… turning off the feed and picking up something that WILL lift up our spirits.
Facebook did the experiment because they could. People are easily manipulated. We too often don’t stop to check facts or dig deeper, or just even allow people to have opposite opinions without calling them “communists” or “fascists” or “fundies” or (insert your favorite insult here).
We don’t want to have respectful conversations. We just want to think what WE want to think… and demand others think exactly like us, or they’re just plain idiots! (It just feels good to be shrill, dog gone it! That felt good!)
We need to breathe. We need to sit back and dwell on what is good, true, noble, beautiful, admirable or praiseworthy. We need to THINK on those things…
And then we all refuse to act rashly, Facebook will realize they can’t do that stuff any more. As will CNN and Fox News. But until then… they’ll keep right on ticking you off.
