Post Potential

“What you have to say should help people get better and feel better. If you can't figure out how to do that, you're not ready to post. “ Carey Nieuwhof

This Social Media thing is astonishing. I cannot imagine all it is doing inside of us daily. I feel for the next generation and am so hopeful that we all can figure this thing out before all the damage is done.

When Facebook came out in 2010, I saw this enormous potential for so many great things. We can get in touch with a high school friend who now lives in a different state, we can share family photos, we can inspire people with encouragement or we could make people laugh. What we all didn’t imagine when it came out was how often we’d state our opinions, debate others, unfollow, unfriend and start to dislike some that we’ll never actually see. I often run into someone I haven’t seen in a while and already have an opinion about them due to their Social Media pages. I don’t think that’s fair but I do.

I have said over and over again that our political rant, our religious comment and our many opinions have yet to sway anyone else’s. If anything, we lose influence. I know for me, my opinions have changed greatly throughout the years (I’m so glad we didn’t have Social Media when I was in my 20’s!).

So what can we do? How can we make this social media a more positive experience? For starters, we can stop pretending we’re not on Social Media. Too many of us act as though we’re in a confessional booth when we admit to going on Facebook. It’s ok to check in on everybody. For me working in ministry, I love to have a bit of access into those who I am friends with. Because of my lack of watching the news, I sometimes actually get it from these outlets.

Secondly, we can have a Social Media accountability partner that can ‘ok’ your post before you post. Ok, that may be a bit much but I may be on to something. Maybe a new Social Media app that needs 2 different passwords from 2 different people to actively post anything? Run with it if you’d like.

Lastly, we’ve heard it before…the pause before the post. Really think about who this affects and how it affects them. Are we losing friends because of posts? Are we posting things we’d never say in person? Are we even using spellcheck!?!?

I hope all of you who read this see Social Media in the way I’d like to……..opportunities to reconnect, ways to encourage and a stop to laugh. Please LIKE this post………