reasons to give up social media

        After a week of being more stressed than I think I've ever been before, and continuing to get more and more stressed each time I looked at social media, I decided to just delete them from my phone all together. At first, I was just not going to get on them, but then later in the day I told my self that all the political debates and posts would have died down by then, only to prove myself wrong once again the second I opened the app. So I deleted them off my phone, and I've honestly been loving it the past few days. I wanted to make this post to share with you some of the reasons I think its good for all of us to either take breaks from social media every now and then, or to just simply get rid of it either for a period of time or for good. 

one ///// It only leads to comparisons & jealousy. 

    We are all prone to comparison or getting jealous over something somebody else has or what somebody else looks like, no matter how much self-esteem we have. It's just human nature. But social media makes it way worse. The things people post are usually things that make them look like they have the perfect relationship, the perfect diet, the perfect hourglass figure, or perfect, blemish-free skin. But in reality, none of that is true, and even though I think most of us know that, those seemingly-perfect pictures can still get under our skin and make us wonder what we're doing wrong that we don't have that relationship, that body, or that skin. It leads to more and more editing of photos, and less and less self-esteem. It's important for us to take time off of social media so that we can remember that we are all made in the image of God, and we're all beautiful and worthy because of it... no matter your relationship status, the shape of your body, or the clarity, color or complexion of your skin. Taking a break and spending time in God's word will bring us back to the Truth. And there's no shame in unfollowing anybody who makes you feel bad about yourself in one way or another. 

two ///// It brings out the worst in people. 

    As a nine on the enneagram, most of the time I keep my opinions to myself because I don't want to rock the boat and I crave peace in every aspect and relationship in my life. But I do have really strong opinions about many things, especially things that are going on in this world right now, and when I have those strong opinions, it’s like I'm a whole new person. Instead of being the person who usually cares too much about what others think of me and my opinions, I become someone who couldn't care less if I started an argument or caused conflict between myself and someone else as long as I'm standing up for what I believe in and my opinions are heard. I'll talk about the enneagram more in a post in the next couple weeks, but I guess when I have strong opinions I take on some of the characteristics of the one and eight, which are considered to be my "wings." My one wing makes me feel as though its my job to make this world a better and more perfect place, and my eight wing tells me that to do this I need to prove that my opinions are the correct ones. Sometimes I give into those little voices in my head, only for my true personality (the peacemaking nine) to come out a few hours later and regret everything I just posted or said because it might make someone mad or start an argument. In the past few months I've been really trying to work on myself and learn the weaknesses of my personality and how I can make them better. One thing I've been working on is sharing my opinion without worrying what people will think of me because of it. The little bit of enneagram eight that's inside of me wants me to do that by arguing with and challenging people on social media that have different opinions than me, but that's not how we, as Christians, are called to live. We're supposed to love everyone even when they have differing opinions than ours, not argue with them and tell them how wrong they are. But that's exactly what social media does to us. It divides us and deceives us into thinking our pride is more important than loving others.  Arguing on social media is never the answer to any problem or current world issue. You will never change someone's mind by shoving your own opinion down their throat. Odds are, it will only make it worse. You change minds and lead people to Truth in the way you live and love in the real world outside of social media, not in the things you repost or the arguments you have in the comments. There's nothing wrong with sharing your opinion on social media as long as you're doing it in a gentle and peaceful way, and being open to hearing the opinions of others as well, even when they're different than your own. 

    This may not be your own experience with social media. You may be able to see posts that you completely disagree with and not be fazed by them at all. But I'm sure it brings out some sort of sin in you, whether that be jealousy, lust, pride, deceit, anger, or anything else. It fuels our human desires because it is full of things that are of this world, not of God. 

three ///// It's a waste of time. 

    There are so many better things you can do than get on social media. I know for me, the majority of the time I get on there I am just mindlessly scrolling. There are a few accounts I love to look at each day because their posts and stories lift me up and make me happy, and those I still look at on my laptop or iPad, but other than that everything isn't really worth my time. I'm able to read so much more, be truly present with the people around me, and get more done during the day. I can't tell you how many times I've heard people say they didn't read their Bible today because they just didn't have time. I've said it myself. But in reality, we all have the time, it just comes down to whether or not we make the time. I'm sure most of the people who use time as an excuse for why they're not spending time with God, are spending at least fifteen minutes on social media (or watching tv or doing something else as equally unproductive) each day. Right there is time that could be spent reading your Bible or talking with God, which leads me to my next point... 

four ///// It has become an idol. 

    An idol is anything in our lives that we give more importance to than we do to God, and when we say that we don't have time to read the Bible or pray, but we spend time on social media, we've made it an idol. We've decided (maybe not intentionally) that scrolling through instagram is more important than flipping through our Bible. 

five ///// It can ruin communication & relationships. 

    Not only does it ruin face-to-face communication because we rely on our phones to talk to people and forget how to have an actual conversation, but it can also ruin relationships or make them harder than they need to be. I think that social media has made dating way harder than it really is. All you see are seemingly "perfect" men and women, so when you meet these people, or other people, in real life and they don't seem like those perfect people on social media, you decide that you're just going to wait and not pursue this relationship because something better will come along if you just wait it out. One of those "perfect" people from your instagram will come into your life eventually. But in reality, those perfect people aren't perfect, they just post things that they know the world likes to see. They're no closer to being perfect than those amazing people you've been passing up while you wait for that perfect person to come along. 

    These are just some of the reasons I think its important to take breaks from social media every once in a while, whether that be for just a day or two at a time, a week, or for good. There definitely are good things about social media, but too much of a good thing can become a bad thing, right? I challenge you to take time away from your accounts every once in a while and spend more time in the real world with real people. 

With love,