Not long ago I was standing talking with some women and the topic of Facebook, blogs, instagram and Pinterest came up. It’s almost impossible for those to not come up in conversation these days because it’s a part of daily life for most people. The conversation turned negative however. It was shared that facebook is annoying because people only put the really negative stuff on there, can be aggressive or even the opposite, they make their lives seem all bright and shiny when in reality it just isn’t that way.
To prove this point here are two pictures I put on Instagram today.
From this tiny tidbit into my day one could think, “Oh how lovely, she has an adorable daughter in a beautiful school and it’s a bright shiny day in Portland with a husband that mows their lawn in November.” All that is true 🙂 What you don’t see is that I didn’t get Isaac out of his pj’s until after nap time and I wore work out clothes all day. Nothing glamorous about that now is there?
Back to the conversation, Pinterest made one of them feel like she wasn’t good enough and most things pinned were only perfection (I get that). And then there are bloggers, some are too real, some are too pious. I’ve heard all these things talked about before in many different circles and I too have had negative reactions to the world of social media and the internet.
But, here’s the thing. These things are not going to go away. My hubby always jokes, “I think this internet thing is just a fad.” Because clearly it is not. Whether we like these things or not, they are here to stay. Believe me I’m more old school than most and don’t love change but here’s what I encourage others to do in this area:
- Embrace the good of things like Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, etc.
- Use it intentionally. I too can get sucked in cyber stocking people, waste time, be angered by people, etc. But I can also use it to connect with students I work with, friends I don’t see in person often, and as a mom stay connected to other moms when we can’t get out of the house as much as we like. Just today I connected with two moms I have never met before in person because of FB and now we’re going to meet up for coffee and talk about school. Our kids, neighborhood and school have connected us and it was done through the tool of FB.
- Look for what we like to call “windows to the soul.” People share things on the internet that they may not share in person because it seems less scary. It may come out angry or incredibly desperate but if you reach out to someone because of a simple status update you may be surprised at what God will do.
I know I’m probably sharing things that you who read this already know and do but the next time someone else takes a negative rant on the social media world maybe you could encourage them to see some of these positives.
What you think about this? Have you seen God use these things to enhance your relationships? I know I have. I’ve also seen my dinners spiced up thanks to lots of new recipes from Pinterest, great ideas for gifts, and great party ideas, etc. (I may be slightly addicted to Pinterest but I use it wisely).