Yet Another Example for the Need to Social Media Detox
Keeping more than 6ft social distance away from social media
I do not understand my own actions
For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate…So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand…I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! (Romans 7:15–24, ESV)
My last Medium post was blunt. I wrote it in response to identity politics, the new religion of society, which I attributed to pulling people away from God and into disorganization. I predicted it was doomed to fail from the very beginning. But what point was I hoping to communicate? Love for God? Or frustration with this new ideology spreading across the country? In my honest reflection, it was my frustration with this new ideology. I had not acknowledged my own biases in writing the piece. I did not understand my own actions. Something was amiss and I found the answer in my involvement with social media.
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, I strongly believe, have fueled an impatient and reactionary disposition in myself. My time on these platforms originally began with the intent to stay connected but that purpose was taken over years ago by an intent to stay righteous/affirmed. Anything and anyone that didn't contribute to this goal became disinteresting and bothersome. The very things that I was hoping to combat via social media became the very things I absorbed into my character. And the turning point was publishing a story on my Medium account that was intended to draw people to God not push them away! Wretched hypocritical man that I am!
Two weeks ago I deleted all other social media accounts upon recognizing that I could not grow into a man of peace and faith if I remained connected any longer. Since then, I have recorded more peaceful mornings and fewer evenings weighed by the news of the day. All the while, my relationship has gotten stronger (I’m engaged!), my work hasn’t suffered (have a 2nd job!), and I do not feel any great loss in being disconnected (I’ve made friends in my new place of residence).
During the last two weeks of social media detox, what was particularly helpful was Cal Newport’s Digital Minimalism. I wish you all a blessed year!
Amen †
