April 2nd- Day 1 of 30 Day Writing Challenge

April 2nd 2016

I've been itching to write again but never know where to start. I've been journaling a lot. Mostly prayer and talks with God that I want to look back on or for others to look at if I'm not here. I found a 30 day writing challenge and decided to post them each on this blog. :)

Day 1: Five Problems with social media

I know a lot of people have strong opinions about social media but I'll tell you my problems with it based on the issues I've had personally.

Time. You see the blinking blue light on your phone and it's like the sea witches calling you to doom. You know you shouldn't check it because you will be on there much longer than you think but you can't help it because someone might have said something funny or witty to you or responded to something you thought was super deep; only to find out that yes, they commented but it totally broke your concentration of what you were doing in that moment. Next thing you know, you've been perusing through your feed (along with other people's you have never met) for an hour before you realize what time it is.

Distraction. I used to use my phone for the Bible at church and realized quickly how easily it is for me to swipe and see what someone else is doing when I should be focused on studying and learning about the Word of God. There have been MANY times I was in the middle of praying, practicing music, reading etc. when that little itch crept up on me and broke the focus I was in...therefore making me practically start over what I was doing. Even as we speak, my phone is in the other room for this EXACT reason.

Call to action? As much as people mean well by sharing posts about things they deem important, what is that really going to do? Is me sharing a post about martyrs in the Middle East going to have any effect in the natural or in the spirit realm to help them or give them strength? No. Awareness is only beneficial if it causes one to go into action. Otherwise we are just like many others in this country who feel bad for a second and then move on to whatever else catches our attention at the moment.

Laziness. Lazy. Instead of finding out if something is true for myself, many times I've been guilty of reading something that LOOKS as though it came from a reputable source but ended up being old information or straight false. We are taking in "information" so quickly that we can only filter so much properly. Instead of writing our own poems or stories, creating our own works of art, music etc. we have an entire world of these things at our fingertips that I honestly believe makes us feel like we have nothing to contribute...or maybe it's just me.

Thinking? This kind of goes along with the laziness but I mean, Come on, who needs to think for themselves or read books for themselves when we can read everyone else's comments and opinions about them? These people are smarter than me right? I'm not going to waste my time doing to work and critical thinking for myself when everyone else already has. This has and is creating a generation of people who are like mockingbirds, they only repeat what they see and hear. Even though I know it is very rare, or impossible to have an idea about something someone else already hasn't thought of; it doesn't mean that someone has heard it or that you shouldn't put the effort in to dive deeper into that idea. A idea that came into your head even if it already existed, is special because of YOU. Your frame of reference, YOUR world view etc.

Too many "friends" not enough RELATIONSHIPS.

I have currently 354 friends on Facebook. I used to have 1,000 but it was for business purposes. Ask me how many people I talk to or meet with on the daily...um...I have a good, solid 10 people I talk to and those people rarely even communicate via social media with me. So what is the purpose? To feel important? To let everyone know how brilliant this thought was I had? Basically. I have wrestled with the idea of deleting my FB account and the ONLY reason why I haven't is because of events and information about local ministries and the ability to communicate with girls who have found me and wanted to talk. Even then... I really don't like it. My level of self-control isn't great when it comes to just checking and then shutting it off.  My relationships are people I text, call, visit and even e-mail. That's my circle. If I got rid of my FB all the people I actually come into contact with would still be able to communicate with me because we have ties outside of the internet.

What do YOU think 5 problems are with social media?