Social Media can be Addictive:

I have noticed recently that I have been a bit more addicted to my social media.  I have stepped away from Snapchat which I do believe was a pretty good idea in order to get me away from certain forms of social media, but now I have more of an addiction to the other forms such as Facebook and Instagram.  I have been on it a lot recently, and I have been more addicted to sharing stories and posting pictures.  I am not necessarily saying that is a bad thing in itself, but I am becoming more and more consumed with the thoughts of what others are thinking from my social media presence.  

  I know that I need to be aware of this because I can’t be that addicted to what others believe about me as opposed to what I and the Lord believe. I especially have felt this recently as I have moved.  I want the people who know I have moved to see from my posts that I am doing perfectly well.  I am making friends, I am doing activities, and I am doing great at my job.  Granted, I am really happy with the move, but I shouldn’t feel the need to flaunt this new feeling, and maybe I just have this belief that I need to let the world know I am doing great.   

I also know that I am a bit more vain in some of my pictures.  If I am honest, I have lost a bit of weight in these last couple of years and have achieved a few fitness goals.  I am very happy about these things, but every once in a while I have felt maybe too happy or too proud about this weight change.  I am a bit more confident in my pictures or in my clothes, at least most days, but I may feel a bit too confident.  I want to share more and more pictures of myself in the new clothes with the “newer” body.  I am not saying it is wrong to feel confident in one’s skin, but it is also important that we don’t feel the need to flaunt or show everyone all of our pictures.  

Psalm 75:4-5 says, “I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’ and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn;do not lift up your horn on high, or speak with a haughty neck.’”  This is definitely a good reminder that I should not be a boastful person in any way, even in the areas of social media.  Social media is one of the easiest ways to boast because it is something that you can easily post and then walk away, waiting for the people to comment, like or ignore.  I just wait for others to give me likes, or hearts or their good thoughts in their comments.  I get to enjoy the rush of feeling seen and beautiful, but it really only lasts for a short while.  

I have learned that I can’t just decide that I need to walk away from social media though.  I definitely need to also reevaluate my confidence and where I am getting my confidence from and more importantly from who. It is important that I step away from social media, but I need to be aware of the immature confidence being the root of my multiple posts and stories.  I feel the need to post so much in order to feel empowered.  “If I get so many likes and comments, and I see that people are seeing what is happening in my life, then I will feel better about myself.”  This is the subconscious feeling I have a great amount while on social media, and this toxic thinking is the main item that needs to be fixed.   

There are definitely some positives when it comes to social media, especially now as I have started this new job.  At my job, one of my coworkers is very diligent about posting items to our social media site.  These posts highlight things we need like gift cards for our kid’s snacks, volunteers for our lessons and other activities, and highlights the wonderful experiences our students have had. She does this regularly and she does a great job of showcasing the great pieces of the work we do.  I do really enjoy getting to help share this message by sharing the posts to my page or to my story.  I also often use social media for my fundraisers such as during December for my Dressember campaign, and that is where I get the most support and donations.  Also, through social media, I know that I can be an encouragement to multiple other people who are posting about their life online. 

Because of these positives, I don’t think I can ever fully walk away from social media for good, but I need to learn to maintain my thoughts and feelings while on social media.  However, I am going to challenge myself for the next two weeks.  I am going to limit myself to only going on social media twice in a day for a total of 5 minutes a day.  I also am going to try to go these two weeks without sharing any posts or stories. Now again, when I say social media, for me I mean Instagram and Facebook.  After these two weeks, I am going to do a bit more self-reflection.  Hopefully, I will walk away with a bit less of an addiction into social media and my thoughts surrounding the instant gratification of social media will have dwindled.  

I am not going to challenge anyone to do the same thing that I am doing.  I know that may not be where everyone is at in their life.  There are probably many people who are reading this who are very healthy with their social media consumption.  There are probably many who don’t go to social media for validation, and I am very happy for you in this.  However, I do want to challenge everyone to at least reflect on their life, and to spend time thinking about whether or not they do have anything that causes more validation for them than it should.  I would say that it is important to maybe take a break from that particular item if that may be the case.