If I Read Another Post I’m Going to Slit My Power Cable
Hey Dad,
I just wasted a few minutes of my life reading an article that broke the news to me that I live in the 38th happiest state in the country, and that North Dakota is number one having moved up 30 spots in a last year according to a recent Gallop pole. The article came highly recommended by some nameless Facebook user amid all the other highly recommended articles in an ocean of highly recommended articles on Facebook.
I don’t know about you, but I think it’s time that someone stands up and says, “This is stupid.” I mean how many amazing articles can a person ingest in one sitting? There’s Ten Amazing Photos about Your Toes That You Have to See to Believe, a titillating article on the Twelve Foods in Your Fridge that Will Kill You by Days End, and a gripping true story of Woman in New Jersey Who Ate Her Piano.
The maddening thing about Facebook is that there is ALWAYS another must-read article to peruse, another breath taking series of photos to see, more life changing mumo-jumbo that you must implement before it‘s too late…so much so that it’s sucking our real lives away.
What did we do with all that extra time before Facebook? We spent it with people!!! We looked at them, moved among them, and interacted on a physical and emotional level. Now we sit in front of monitors clambering for the next article or post. You know I’m not over stating it…because you can barely wait to run back and “like” something.
Someone should calculate how many hours and lifetimes have been diverted from interacting with real family members and wasted on reading about an 87-Year-Old Yoga Teacher or the Top 15 Sink Holes in America? It’s got to be staggering!!* And yet, we swarm around our screens like flies on a dung pile.
When will we stop? When will we say Facebook is a bad thing and that it is killing families, causing moms to ignore their children, husbands to ignore their wives, and teenagers to avoid real life? I haven’t even touched on the fact that it has fueled a multitude of affairs and heaped on despair and depression on so many of it’s users.
We hate it and love it…vow to turn it off but can’t stop posting, viewing, and liking.
Maybe I’m just an old dad who remembers a time before Facebook and has a hard time going with the flow, or maybe…it’s time say good-bye to Facebook for the good of our marriages, our families, and the world.
Who’s ‘da dad?
Todd
*According to my calculations, based on the info provided by Statista…There are 874 million active Facebook users a month…each spending an average of 22.52 minutes per day. That equals 37,447 years wasted per month!!! Or 468 lifetimes per month are flittered away on Facebook.
This Post Has 5 Comments
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
When your hubby realizes you are just waiting for him to actively engage his gentle heart upon the family. That’s when. Until then, distract yourself with a blank focal point. Why? Nothing and: I mean NOTHING you do as mother will have any impact. Being nice when you feel like it isn’t enough.
Todd, you are so right! Social media has taken the place of real relatiionships which come complete with accountability and transparency. Instead, many younger people have 400 “friends”, but truly have no real friends at all. Social media is not the solution for loneliness, but It may be one of the causes of it.
I got to this article from facebook 😉
On a more serious side, facebook is like any other technology, or honestly any other “passion”. It is just as easy to get lost in a book, in a bottle, or even in any hobby of your choice, it’s just more socially acceptable with social media.
You have to treat it like any of those other things, when you realize it’s consuming too much of your life (or when it’s brought to your attention), do what’s necessary. If that means turning it off altogether, do it. If that means taking a break, do it. If it means you have to discipline yourself enough to limit your time, do it.
Just do it 🙂
Shane,
I’m not sure if it is like other technology. Yes, anything can be addicting…like reading or hobbies…but the stats show this may be bigger. The hundreds of people who have come up to me and said, “they’re being sucked in” says that maybe this is something bigger. Again, I’m not trying to be the expert…but something ‘feels” different. The line between virtual and real is growing exponentially thinner.
I do agree that we need to do what is necessary…and that’s the hard part. I hate the thing…but yet I hear the argument for “reaching people…expanding your tribe…blah blah.”
I don’t want to be swept away with the flood.
Thanks for your input…I guess I’ll keep wrestling.
Todd
I think the only real difference is the convenience, and the fact that it’s free (monetarily anyhow).
That said, it’s worth exploring what exactly makes it so hard to pull away. The primary reasons I liken it to any other addiction is that the cycle is much the same. Something about social media pretends to meet a need. That need is different for different people, but the illusion is the same. Then, because that activity doesn’t actually fulfill our need – or at least for very long – we go back to it, but it requires more and more over time.
It all comes down to recognizing that only God can fulfill our needs fully, which of course is easy to say, but hard to practice.
Now, as far as keep wrestling or not, it’s possible that in some cases a complete break is necessary. I know it can be hard to feel like you’re constantly battling this thing – it’s a big part of the reason we don’t have cable TV at our house, it’s just too much of a temptation for us to just have it on in the background. If you need social media for your ministry (i.e. I get a lot of your articles an whatnot via facebook these days), maybe that’s something that needs to be delegated to someone else to manage for you, something like that.
It’s a tough one, and I do get tired of the constant question: “Dad, can I play the wii?” or “Dad, can I download this app on my ipod?” It’s up to me to keep teaching the kids the value of real, human connection and reliance on God for all my needs. Seems darn near impossible some days.
Keep up the good fight, and thank you for your obedience to God in your ministry to the rest of us!
Shane