Monday, November 12, 2012

Four Days Without Facebook-Reflecting


Last week I deleted my Facebook account. I have serious doubts as to whether or not this is a permanent thing. As a matter of fact, I'm certain it is not. I miss it.

As I debated deleting my account, I encountered many questions as to why I've chosen to delete it...and honestly, settling on one answer is pretty complicated.

The lowest common denominator I suppose is that I was beginning to get annoyed with all of the noise. Social media during a political season is not a pretty place. Everyone seems to think their candidate/candidates are the only ones who has the answers. If their candidates aren't elected, the world is doomed. This is an expected attitude for some folks...But for those who profess faith in a sovereign God...I don't think so...

And herein lies one of the problems...I think.

Everyone has an opinion. Everyone on social media has a platform. Everyone on social media feels the need to express their opinions...and everyone has that right. And I was getting sick of reading everyone expressing their opinions...As I'm sure many people were sick of reading me doing the same...especially as I expressed my opinion of others expressing their opinions.(So I blog about it?)

The political season pushed me over the top, but that certainly wasn't the only issue. I've been dealing with this for some time. I had grown tired of reading people gush over the ones they loved, of hearing about your cute grandchild and how cute and smart he is, of how wonderful everyone's life is, of how terrible everyone's life is...I had grown tired of people being fake...and people being too honest.I had grown tired of everyone's pettiness in pointing out every little flaw they could find in others...(Ironic, huh?)

I was so sick of it...I began questioning everyone's motives for why they posted what they posted. I began making character judgements and pointing out flaws...Not in public mind you...not even out loud most of the time....maybe not even consciously in my mind. But, it was happening. As I told a few friends of mine, I was beginning to have a hard time loving people.

This should never be...And I hated it.

And there is no excuse for it.

So my biggest problem, was not everyone else...it was me.

I didn't like what social media was revealing about myself, and my own heart. I was vain, I was prideful...my ego was over-inflated. It still is...And I don't know that it's going away anytime soon. But with God's help I'm working on it...

Ironically enough, all of these character flaws that were revealed to me ,and in me,  through social media...were at the same time making themselves more and more known in my 'real life'...I'm not saying social media created these flaws, or even made them worse...But I think it rather naive to think social media doesn't spill over into the real world and have a real impact on real life.

Ultimately I was a sinner who had much better access, and a much more convenient way to interact with other sinners...I didn't handle it well. I pray that if(when) I re-engage with Facebook, I'll do a much better job.

Just a few days before deleting my Facebook, I scribbled this down in a notebook:

"Sometimes I simply want to withdraw from the world until I've grown enough as a person to have something worth contributing."

When I wrote this, I didn't specifically have Facebook or social media in general in mind...But I think the same principle applies.

There is one thing I have noticed...Spending less time worrying about what others are doing on Facebook, I have much more time to enjoy my family. I have much more to contribute to them. This is a very good thing. And I pray that when I do join the Facebook fray again, I will intentionally strive to not lose that, and even more than that, that I will have learned how to contribute more to, and better edify the world of Facebook.

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