Social Media Use – Renew: Youth Ministry at Moorpark Presbyterian Church

Suggestion: Post with Purpose & You Might Save Yourself

The longer I interact with and ponder the effects of social media, the more I’m starting to believe it is something to use with much caution. It won’t take you long to find some study that shows that people with narcissistic tendencies seem to post more on social media (I didn’t write it, just read it). That’s a whole ‘nother conversation, and I’m not trying to jump into it here.

But it got me thinking about something that – if the previous argument is true – could save our online reputation. Maybe/maybe not, but here goes: Social media posts should be a link to a larger train of thought. For example, a tweet should in most cases be a brief summary of a blog post.

Here’s my thinking: I’m not sure exactly why experts say that posting all-day every-day about myself is so self-centered, but my concern is that when we post something about what we’re doing without giving any deeper thought to it, we create a habit of speaking for the sake of speaking.

This could be proof: I’ve encouraged people in the past to use Twitter. At first they hate it, then they get used to it, and finally they become addicted to it. Why does this happen? Often it’s simply because they started following people they were interested in and soon they too were posting their own thoughts. That’s what social media does to us. It sucks us in. It’s easy and informative. We get our fix.

But are we just creating bad habits?

Do you think text messaging is teaching us poor grammar? Probably. I don’t know the official stats but I’d guess 80% of teenage communication (or something crazy like that, anyway) is done through text messaging. They are in the habit of using short language to communicate. What if instead they had to practice writing properly 80% of the time? We’d see a difference.

Couldn’t it be possible that social media is doing a similar thing? We’re not really thinking, just posting. And doing so…just because?

So I suggest: Much of what we post should be a link to a larger train of thought. Consider starting a blog. Take time to write in detail about that experience before you post about it. I’m not saying don’t EVER post anything short or silly; there needs to be room for fun. But ask first, what’s the deeper connection to what I’m posting? Maybe it will make us deeper people.

photo credit: Jason A. Howie via photopin cc

Friend vs Follower: How to use Social Media as it is intended

On Facebook, you have friends. On Twitter, you have followers. This difference is significant.

Understanding the difference will help you use social media more wisely. Or maybe even, as it is intended. Failing to understand, will most likely lead to a few problems.

So what’s the difference?

Friends are probably interested in what I’m DOING. They like to see pictures, learn about what’s going on in my family, hear about new things, etc. This is why there are comments and the like button. It encourages interaction.

You’re friends with somebody “just because” you went to high school together, find each other funny, have some social connection, etc.

Followers are interested in what I’m SAYING. I can admit, it’s perfectly acceptable to post whatever you want, but chances are you won’t gain any interest from people if you post nonsense. This is why it’s important that you follow a set of rules (see my posts here). Think of following a leader. If that person is a fool, chances are you’re gonna go find someone else to follow. This is no different on Twitter. I don’t typically have any interest in following someone who has nothing important to say. I’m expecting you to impact my life in some way. This really is the point of Twitter.

You don’t follow someone “just because.” You can, but you probably wouldn’t. And if you do, they’re probably leading you somewhere you don’t want to go.

Here’s an example.
In my getting older age, I’m trying to write more about youth ministry. But my guess is that not every one of my friends is interested in reading about youth ministry or my thoughts on Jesus and the Bible (some of them aren’t even Christians, and I don’t adhere to the bullhorn style of evangelism). So I don’t post blog entries (typically) on Facebook.

Twitter is different though. It’s for followers. Or, people who have an interest in what I’m saying. You can’t watch TV and NOT see Twitter being advertised, especially in news and sports. That’s because people desire to know what’s being said by these organizations and celebrities. We have an obsession with following the leaders we respect. This is exactly why Twitter is so successful.

Problem #1: “I can post whatever I want”
That being said, this is where I get frustrated with how teenagers use Twitter, or with people who think it’s dumb. It’s not about posting whatever you’re thinking or doing at the moment. If you must, Facebook is slightly more appropriate for that. Twitter, however, is helping to bring relevancy to social media. Think of it as you would a book. You don’t just write whatever and get published; it requires thought and to be relevant on some level. We dumb it down when we ignore this. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

I don’t understand why we post random thoughts about what we’re thinking. I need a good resource on this subject. I’m sure future generations will look back and wonder why we posted so much nonsense online. Narcissistic, maybe? Probably.

Problem #2: Mixing purposes
The problem with posting on Facebook as if you had followers, not friends? If you post links to articles or info you’re interested in, chances are a good number of your friends aren’t interested in it and they will find Facebook becoming irrelevant, especially the more people post stuff like that. Which is why you shouldn’t do it. Have you ever seen somebody try to sell something on Facebook? I have. And I can guarantee that 99% of your friends aren’t interested in buying your car. Use ebay. I can understand that it’s a simple way just to see if anybody is interested. But chances are they’re not. And the more we do stuff like this, the more irrelevant social media becomes.

This is why Facebook added pages. It’s a way to follow organizations. There’s a little bit of an identity crisis goin on, however.

So in conclusion, get a journal. And be a leader worth following online.

WWJT: What Would Jesus Tweet

It’s no surprise that I have a set of standards when it comes to how one tweets. I typically don’t get any push-back from adults with these rules, but some of the high schoolers, well they downright despise me for my Twitter opinions.

I heard that one of them was telling others how my rules are stupid. Of course I just laugh at that thought and respond, “Who’s tweets are more annoying? Mine, or theirs?” The answer is obvious. However, in reply they said, “Well that’s how you use Twitter, but they can use it how they want to as well.” But later I was thinking about how ridiculous this thought is. You can’t say there are no rules for how to use Twitter. That’s like saying, “I can drive a car however I want. I don’t need to follow the speed limit.” Good luck with that one. This may be an extreme example, but it’s true.

Why do some people hate the rules? I’m not saying if you hate my Twitter rules, then you hate rules in general. Not at all. However, our culture practically begs you to ignore the rules. It’s filled with, do-whatever-makes-you-happy. This kind of thinking is what leads us to say, “Well that’s how you use Twitter, but they can use it how they want to as well.” Our society is big on tolerance. In other words, for the sake of peace we can agree to disagree. You don’t tell me what to do, and I won’t tell you what to do. Sound familiar? Arguments like this probably happen within your family on a regular basis, I’m guessing.

There’s a problem with this thinking though…it’s not biblical. 1 John talks about being led astray, painting this picture of good vs evil. It talks about letting our hearts guide us to action, and that we’ll know what to do by the Spirit God gave us. Then chapter 4 says, “do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God.” As Christians, we’re actually called to test whether or not what we see around us is from God. There’s a sense here then that we don’t just do whatever we want. If it’s not from God, be careful not to be led astray.

Our society gets it wrong. We actually SHOULD be listening to each other and coming to an agreement on what to do and what not to do. Because…NOT.EVERYTHING.IS.FROM.GOD.

My point here is not to use 1 John to defend my Twitter etiquette. That would just be silly. My point is to get you to think, using Twitter as an example. What happens when I ignore the rules? You know the answer here. What I’m getting at is order. We have rules to control the order. To prevent chaos, or…mayhem (which occurs when you blow up my Twitter feed). If you tweet all day long about nothing important, just blasting out all of your random thoughts, what good does that do? How does it contribute to the order? And if we don’t agree on some sense of order, mayhem will result. You can take offense all you want to my suggestions, but I guarantee you are contributing to the mayhem if you just blindly tweet all day about nothing.

There are more important things in life than Twitter, I know. So listen to your family. Have healthy conversation about what is from God and what isn’t. Then figure out how to do the good things.

And listen to your youth pastor as well. And for the record, yes, it all starts with Twitter. #stopthemayhem