Anti-Social Media
I’ve been thinking about Richard’s last blog post; his proposal that we should utilize social media to deliver truth, goodness, and beauty to our society. He said that we are creatures of love – we become what we behold. For most of us, we behold social media: breaking news is delivered through Facebook; excited parents announce the arrival of their baby through Instagram; we grieve through Twitter. This makes a lot of sense. The problem is I have a serious aversion to social media.
I first joined Facebook when I entered college. This was back when Facebook was only open to “.edu” email addresses. There was no Messenger or Groups or “likes.” It was simply a way for students to connect. Then, Facebook and the rest of the world lost their minds. When I came across a photo of my cousin’s friend’s wife’s placenta in my Facebook feed, I was done. I deactivated my account shortly thereafter. I attempted to re-enter the world of social media when Instagram was born, pre-Facebook takeover. Photos with pretty filters. Harmless. But suddenly, I was scrolling through an endless barrage of photos of food, cars, babies, more food, and essentially, #stuffiown. Even more offensively, these were bad photos! I have since deactivated.
They say that people are depressed because of social media. That’s not hard to believe. Based on my feed, I am not enough. My skin is not clear enough. My clothes are not trendy enough. My car is not autonomous enough. My weekend plans are not glamorous enough. Our kids are not advancing enough. Our house is not renovated enough. My detergent is not green enough. My posts are not getting enough likes. And I definitely need more followers. The bottom line is that my existence is not Instagram-worthy. This is incredibly depressing.
But I know that these are lies. I am truly blessed, and my blessings have nothing to do with what I possess, where I live, or what I do. I am blessed in Christ. The Bible tells me so; it is the truth. I should share this truth. Based on the foregoing evidence, I should probably share it on social media. Ugh. Let me sleep on it.