I've been on Facebook from the beginning, but it has really lost it's luster. It use to be a great way to connect with the college girls I was mentoring and share photos with across-the-country relatives. Now it is the latest hype on BuzzFeed or an invitation to play a virtual game or a video of a cat doing something cat-like. Facebook has become everyone's platform to be an expert. While I love my friends, sometime I don't really care to hear their opinion on certain topics and our friendship is better off not hear how passionate they are about XYZ without a face-to-face conversation about it. And I'm all for real-live talking about things we might disagree about, to any friends who want to. I came to this silly little corner of the internet to get a fun look into what everyone was doing, how their day is going and what fun new adventure they might be enjoying. But now, Facebook has become a whole lot of yuck.
Debbie Downers, Condemning Carls, Lazy Lennys, and Negative Nancys.
We are for gay marriage. We are against.
We are for the ethical treatment of bunnies. We eat bunnies.
We support ALS. We think the ice bucket challenge is stupid.
What you are doing is wrong, but I'm not doing anything to help.
I leave Facebook thinking, "Can't we all just get along?" Anyone else?
For all the ads, messed up algorithms and strange permissions Facebook require for use, I have found another form of social media that I adore. INSTAGRAM.
Beautiful pictures, concise commentary, and no one is really offended if you don't "friend" them with a follow. It is a beautiful thing! On Instagram, most of the people I interact with are like-minded strangers. They encourage and uplift me to tackle this crazy thing called life and make me laugh along the way. Sure, I follow friends but since it is not as all-consuming as Facebook to the social media world, I can be a little more selective with whose pictures I see. If you aren't on, I would suggest you join and look through the people I follow. There are some truly inspirational Instagramers (is that a word?) I get to glean a little wisdom, laughter and positivity from every day and that makes me a better wife, mother and person. Win, win, right?
More important than social media it to develop genuine relationships in the community around you. Sure, I can be encouraged by an image and a sentiment on Instagram, but how much more life-giving to find camaraderie and friendship at the park yesterday while all of our kids played together? Social media has it's place and believe me, after 9 straight days of potty training social media was my saving grace, but it shouldn't replace real, honest to goodness face-to-face sharing of life.
Whose life are you sharing in?
Join a gym.
Plan an adventure night.
Meet a friend for coffee.
Frequent the farmers market.
Go out there and really truly connect. It's the only way to really see who the Positive Polly's are in your life. Find them and build a community you can believe in.
P.S. Get a pen pal or make a friend run a marathon.
1 comment:
Thank you for writing a post like this. I sure struggle with this. I've worked hard at building community and serving neighbors and meeting people (offering to pick up coffee for my neighbor that had a hard day--and vowing to invent Starbucks delivery someday--or making a meal for my neighbor that just had a baby, picking up wipes for her during my trip to Target, etc...cuz gracious, I would've loved to have a neighbor who did that for me when I was in need!). But FB makes me feel bipolar: I LOVE it, it's my "saving grace" on stinky, muddy, chaotic parenting two boys days but then it's the thing I want to delete out of my life and never see again. I have gotten THIS close to deleting it so many times, and JUST when I'm about to, I have always gotten a random message from someone I had no idea was "watching" me, telling me they've turned back to God because of my posts. (?!) So, I just continue to pray about it and try to keep myself in check...not easy to do...and I still might delete it altogether someday.
Post a Comment