Sarah Markley (a blogger I follow, she’s great BTW) is doing a link-up today concerning social media. Check out her blog here and the link-up for other bloggers here.
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How do you deal with social media?
Are you overwhelmed by it?
Do you fall into the comparison trap with so-and-so?
Do you get into comment wars conversations with friends who have different political or religious beliefs?
Or are you like me and just don’t care that much?
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Don’t get me wrong, I am a social media junkie. I love to find interesting people on Twitter to fill up my feed. If you write things like – If I could have dinner with anyone, alive or dead, I’d probably choose alive because I probably wouldn’t be very hungry if I were dead. @000_000 – I will follow you. Checking Facebook is an hourly daily activity, I love to see what my friends and family are up to. I am guilty of taking pictures of coffee only to post on Instagram. (I have a Google+ account, but does anyone really care?). And I love my little blog along with the 100+ I spend time reading every week.
But really, I don’t care that much.
If tomorrow I had to shut it all down, walk away from the internet and live without another status update for-ev-er, could I? Absolutely. Would I miss it? Totally.
Because, even though I feel like I have a connection to all of these people, I don’t.
The cute fashion blogger I follow doesn’t call me when she needs a shoulder to cry on. My friend from Jr.High doesn’t seek me out when there’s a victory to celebrate. The random couple I met at Starbucks through a mutual friend doesn’t schedule double dates with me and husband.
They reach out to the people with whom they have true connection and relationship.
Are you overwhelmed by social media? Take a break from it. Shut down your Facebook account for a month. Turn off the laptop and don’t turn it on again for a day or two. I promise it’ll all be there when you come back.
Do you fall into the comparison trap with so-and-so? Go buy a journal. In said journal, write down at least one thing you are thankful for every day for a month. Realize at the end of the month your life isn’t too shabby. (I would also recommend one thousand gifts by Ann Voskamp if you want some reading on the subject.)
Do you get into comment wars conversations with friends who have different political or religious beliefs? Just don’t. In my experience, these conversations lead to misunderstandings and hurt feelings. I agree with another blogger who said today, “A good rule to remember is: if you wouldn’t say it to your friend face-to-face, it doesn’t need saying on her Facebook wall either.”
Social media is a great tool for connecting with others, but it’s no more than a tool. It can never be a replacement for true relationships.
The Years of My Pilgrimage 
Hey there – I’m coming to you via Sarah Markley. I come from an interesting perspective – I am housebound with an autoimmune illness – social media is my world at the moment. I would much prefer to see friends in real life, present, in person, so I’m definitely with you on that one. But I’m so appreciative of Tiwtter and Facebook and the blogosphere, which have been life to me over the past two years. I appreciate people sharing their life online because that is where I live these days…
For what it’s worth, I blogged on the benefits (and drawbacks) of recording one’s life http://Tanyamarlow.com/life-is-for-telling
Am enjoying this link up!
Hi Tanya,
I loved your post, and relate so well to the picture dilemma. We live far from most of our family, so when we’re all together, I want to document every moment. For memories mostly, and somehow to prove we were all together and how great it the time was.
Thank you too for your perspective. I’m home most days, but am not bound here. I can imagine that the internet would become much more personal and important if I was.
Thank you for sharing your journey, I look forward to walking this journey together.
Kathy
I care without being overly invested. The world has moved in this direction and I am glad I have taken to it. I know how to keep my off line life in focus even when my date card is empty. I know who really loves me and when I am really being heard and appreciated. Everything else is just filler and gravy.
I truly think your’s is the best perspective, to appreciate and enjoy the best of everything!
what a great post, kat. and i tend to agree with you – i try to stay out of the wars and i really don’t care all that much! you also highlight a great point :: the false intimacy of social media. it’s something i’ve been thinking about for a long time, and incidentally, was going to write on that soon. thank you so much for participating in the link up! =)
The intimacy thing is a tricky subject. My husband and I were talking with some friends recently about how false it can be. If you only know someone by what they post on FB or Twitter, do you really know them at all? I look forward to reading what you have to say on the subject.
Thanks for having the link-up, I’ve enjoyed reading all the posts!
I care. I want to find true sisters in Christ in which I can be myself and be welcome. Finding those real relationships is the hard part and takes time, yet worth the effort. If we use SM wisely, we can find those friendships.
I totally agree. My point was to use SM as a means to developing those relationships, not to use SM as a replacement for those relationships.
SUCH a good post, and really hit “home” with me. I’ve recently been feeling very overwhelmed with social media (and technology in general), and having an account at this place and that, and the fact that I “HAVE” to check out this NEW site that is really the BEST. It’s obnoxious. The world outside the internet (as addictive and fun as it is) can be so much better sometimes, I just often feel a call to simplify and be truly real in a world that is everything but simple…
I can tell you that I took a break for about 6 weeks this spring, it was so freeing NOT to have to check everything. The break also helped me to realize that the SM media world isn’t everything, I feel like I’m doing a better job now not getting so wrapped up into the “HAVE TO”.