Lies, Damn Lies and Social Media

I recently read of a mother who told her kids to stay off social media because people's posts are 100% lies. “It's not their real lives,” she stated. “It's their pretend, ideal lives.”

I grant the partial truth of this. Yet on balance, Facebook and Twitter have been a blessing for me.

Okay, when I log on I expect that I will have interest in very little I see. I don't care what you had for supper at that restaurant. I don't care for your cute puppy memes. I don't care about most of the people tagged in your posts because I don't know them. I don't care about your politics. (Though I will admit to making the occasional political tweet.) The only Facebook character I regularly read is Maxine, the crotchety old lady. The only tweet I never miss is my daily dose of Calvin and Hobbes.

Yes, I hit “j” quickly and repeatedly. Yes, I understand that much of what people—including me—post proclaims only the better parts of our lives.

But unless you and I are close already, or unless you approach me in my role as pastor, I do not really need to know about your low moments. It's not that I don't care, it's that I already see enough pain in myself and others. I turn to social media in part to get away from that.

Social media have been largely responsible for renewing relationships I have allowed to languish. They have connected me with the people in the church I serve. They have enabled my extended family to communicate better than we ever managed before.

The trick is to manage our use of social media. For me, this has meant learning not to take the bait when somebody tries to start an argument, and trying to limit my own posts to those that I would want to read were I in others' shoes.

I don't know about you, but I like to laugh. I like to think my friends are happy. I like to catch up with college buddies, my mother-in-law, young adults with families who once upon a time were in youth groups I led. Social media help me do all these, and more.

I am grateful.