The Social Media Dare

Do you ever feel like this?

Do you ever walk out of class and look around and count how many cell phones you see or headphones in ears?  How about when you walk into the classroom and every head is looking down at a cell phone?  Or do you see everyone on lap tops during class looking on Facebook, Pinterest, and their email?  How about going to church and seeing people pull out their cell phones to check Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and whatever else? 

I find it so sad that people are more interested in connecting with the people who are on the internet than those who are right in front of them and around them.  I know I am not perfect at this either.  We get overly excited about that little buzz and chime that tells us someone cares; whether it is a "like" on Facebook or a comment on Twitter.  We can't resist the urge to check our phones all the time.  Do you ever find yourself saddened when you go a whole day without notifications or with very few and forget that you have people around you that could talk to you instead of "notify" you on your phone?  Do you ever accept a friend request from someone you haven't seen in years and instead of making genuine contact you review their profile and feel that is good enough and you are now caught up on their life?

Back two years ago a talk was given in General Conference by Elder Ian S. Ardern that made a big impact on me.  After hearing what was said I went home and deleted my Facebook account.  I hesitated only a little.  Admittedly, I went almost a year before I returned to Facebook.  What did I learn from my time of exile?  I learned how freeing it is to go back to a time before social media.  I felt I had more time on my hands to do things and was happier.  I also realized that I never knew of the parties or activities that were going on around me but luckily I had good friends who kept me updated.  I also learned that I was more fair with people.  Instead of passing judgement on someone because of their Facebook profile I could ask them sincere questions about their lives because I didn't know what was happening.  

So why did I go back to using Facebook?  The truth is I want to stay connected to people from my mission and from my past and also because it is helpful in creating more of a social life.  I realize that there are benefits to using social media and it can be a great tool however, tools can be damaging when overused.  It is concerning that people tie up their emotions and their lives in the use of social media.  Elder Bednar gave a powerful talk in 2009 for the young single adults of the church titled "Things as They Really Are."  He drives home the message that social media is not real life and our overuse of it can create a false reality.  I strongly encourage you to read his talk.

In summary, social media is not bad but our use of social media can be.  I think everyone should evaluate how much they use it and how emotionally attached they are to it.  I think everyone would rather have genuine contact and connection to those around them than to hear from them via internet.  I would also issue a challenge that I do every once in a while to refocus myself.  Log out of all your social media sites on your computer and phone and see how long you can go without them.  Hours? Days? A Week?  Try it!  I dare you...