I doubt anyone has really noticed, but I’ve been on a “social media fast” for the past five months. That’s not to say that I never get on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram; but I have not spent time just scrolling through page after page of posts. To be honest, there are some things that I missed because I wasn’t keeping up with family, church family and other friends as a result, but overall I would say that what I’ve missed pales in comparison to the time and peace of mind gained as a result.
If you look at my Facebook feed, you will find several things that I’ve been tagged in by my family or church members. I love that they are thinking of me and including me in their social media posts. I just spent a few minutes watching a video that my niece tagged me in and now I think we have a new project for the next time we get together!
But that’s the thing… it’s not about likes, tags, retweets and shares! Life is about community! And community rarely happens in cyberspace!
For the past month here at Temple Rogers, we’ve been focused on becoming better communicators. Whether that is written, conversational or digital communication does not matter; we learned that before we speak or before we hit send, we need to ask ourselves four very important questions: 1) Is it true? 2) Is it kind? 3) Is it necessary? and 4) Is it clear?
To be clear (especially since that’s question #4), I’m not saying that everybody should go on a “social media fast” for months. What I am saying is that it sure doesn’t hurt to get away every now and then for a few days!
However, when we do engage with others via our favorite social media app, I want to encourage you to think before you speak. Take just a few minutes to ask yourself how those reading your message might perceive it before you hit send.
In his book, Before You Hit Send, Dr. Emerson Eggerichs asked, “How can I speak what is true and necessary and clear without others feeling I am unkind? How can I differ with people without them feeling unloved and disrespected?” He went on to say that “we may not intend to be unkind (our hearts are in the right place), but it makes little difference when others interpret our communication as unloving and disrespectful.”
With that in mind, I post this blog with fear and trepidation. My goal is not to shame anyone for their social media habits, but to encourage everyone to be an example of Christ even in cyberspace.
Show love.
Extend grace.
Be patient.
Give people the benefit of the doubt.
Respond, don’t react.
And ask yourself these four questions before you hit send!
To learn more, listen here.