Bye Bye Social Media

Bye Bye Social Media

Facebook? Nope. Twitter? Never. Instagram? Nada. Snapchat? Nyet.

by Eric Ferris, RideTheFerrisWheel.com

No social media? Ferris, please tell me you’re not “one of those guys”! Thanks for asking! I guess it depends on what you mean when you say “those” guys. When I tell you I don’t use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok, or any of the other up and coming apps, what category do you put me in? Old? Disconnected? Curmudgeon, kvetch,

or sourpuss? What if I told you I don’t use those apps ANYMORE, but am still using YouTube, have a LinkedIn profile, and, of course, my own website (RideTheFerrisWheel.com)? What category then? Inconsistent? What if continued by telling you that I allow my kids to use social media? Hypocrite? Years of work gone in seconds A few years ago I deleted all of my social media accounts. Not a temporary hold. A permanent deletion. I didn’t want to go back to them. Thousands of social media connections gone in a matter of seconds. Oh, the loneliness and reclusion. Uh...er...I mean freedom! Why would I do that? I was increasingly suspicious that two things were more true than I wanted to believe. First, that I was wasting significant time on social media. Second, that social media wasn’t good for me emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. More on that later. In a nutshell, I was suspicious that there was a better way for me. So, I did it. That day. Done. No farewell messages. No lengthy diatribes posted. Just gone. And you know what? No one cared. And although you might get heart palpitations just thinking about not using social media, I am here to testify that I am alive and well and actually a better, healthier human after making that choice. Slurping it up

We just slurp it up, All of it. We go bonkers like the Ferris family hamster when given a papaya treat. A new app comes out, the younger crowd jumps on, then the parents, then the businesses. By the time businesses jump on, the

young people have already started gravitating to the next, newest app. You knew that was inevitable as soon as you joined, right parents? That cycle is speeding up and the number of apps is increasing. Now, to be fair and honest, there’s a lot I really like about social media. For starters, the marketing potential is amazing. In fact, it’s somewhere between inefficient and stupid for me to not use social media to market RideTheFerrisWheel.com. I’ve made a choice, and I’m going to choose to be okay with that. Yep...I’ve chosen to be stupid and inefficient :)

What else is good? First, Snapchat filters can be ridiculously entertaining. Second, there’s no denying that it’s heartwarming and good for my soul to see pics and posts from people I care about. Oh, and I love sharing fun moments with my family. It’s a regular occurrence in my house that one of my kids says “dad, you’ve got to see this” and then shows me something on their phone that makes us laugh like crazy. That’s all wonderful! But maybe, just

maybe, we should stop slurping. Sip perhaps. Take a drink, okay. But that’s not what many of us are doing. Come on, admit it with me if it’s true of you...”I’m a slurper of social media”. No thoughtful restraint. No intentional restriction. Perhaps it should be a caution to us that both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates strictly restricted their own kids use of technology. Huh? That’s right, the man who wanted to change the world with the iPad wouldn’t let his own kids use one. And why is Google now releasing apps (Digital Well-being Experiments) to help us spend LESS time on our phones? Snapchat streaks

I don’t throw around the word “addiction” lightly. But ladies and gentlemen, many of us are addicted. Real addiction. More of us than we care to discuss. Biological and physiological addiction. Real impulses affecting our bodies, minds, and behavior. When you’re at a stop light, do you take 30 seconds to check Facebook? Continue a Snapchat streak? All you have to do is to pay attention and take inventory for one day to embrace the truth. The typical cellphone user touches his or

her phone 2,617 time every day, according to a study by research firm Dscout. But that's just the average user: The study found that extreme cellphone users — meaning the top 10% — touch their phones more than 5,400 times daily. There are so many great uses for our phones that it’s difficult to avoid becoming addicted to those little screens. It’s a world class, digital multi-tool.

If, as a pastor, I stood up and challenged my church to a social media fast for a week, the majority of the people wouldn’t just say “I don’t want to do that.” They’d say “I CAN’T do that”. And they’d be dead serious. They can’t imagine their life without it. Folks...can we use the word again? Addiction.

The good, the bad, and the ugly I’ve already applauded the good about social media. Since I’m pretty sure I don’t need to convince you of the good, let’s move on to the bad and ugly. Are you ready? I bet you could have constructed this list in less time than it took me (about two lengths of a TikTok): ● Ignorant people, who think they are experts, launch criticism and complaints ● Cowards and the immature say things they never would face to face

● Losing our humanity, civility, and ability to engage in person ● Judging our self worth based on likes, follows, and shares ● The emotional roller coaster of seeing what people think and say about us ● Drama, gossip, and threats ● Impulsive venting ● Haters and bullies having 24/7 access to their targets ● Sexually explicit images, words, and pornography ● Our brains are being rewired. ● Pro*ane and hateful speech. It’s all good as long as you u*e a few a*teri*k*.

Yet we slurp. And we allow our kids to slurp. And we lead our churches to slurp.

A better way? There’s a better way. I don’t really want to convince the world to stop using social media. I DO want everyone, especially Christians, to think well about what we are doing. To make the bold move from mindless slurpers to thoughtful consumers . That’s a good place to start. If my website and this essay at least caused some people to slow down and think, then I’ll call that a win.

FOOTNOTE: I linked a few articles as I wrote this brief essay. I’ve shared nothing new or profound. And that might be even more scary. We all know all of this...and just keep on keepin’ on. Go ahead and search these topics for yourself. You’ll find a mountain of articles with a simple search.