Saying "Bye, Bye, Bye" to Social Networking

Social Networking sucks. That, my friends, is the reason I will be excusing myself from them for at least one week. If you do recall, I deleted my FaceBook and Twitter back in September of 2010 and didn't make new ones until February 2011, and those months of my life were quite productive.

It's ridiculous for me to wake up, check fbook, check twitter, then read the newsfeed and timeline on my phone down to the last update I read before I fell asleep that night. Am I a nosy stalker? No. I just enjoy having something to read, that's always new and available. But the question is why am I reading about who loves who, who had a terrible day at work, and other nonsense things rather than reading my Bible when I first wake up. Or doing something far more productive with my time. Also, some of the things you see on there just create negative feelings.

Summertime is a lousy excuse for girls to take very precisely posed pictures of themselves in bikinis, upload them, and make every guy drool from the other side of the computer screen. Guilty as charged last summer, but this summer I see the ploy behind it all. And it's gotten worse. Ladies, put some clothes on. But behind all those scantly clad pictures, lies another unfortunate thing. I know in the back of my mind, I'm thinking, "Gosh, why can't I look like that?" Or "My goodness gracious she looks atrocious! Take this picture down girl." Both absolutely terrible and negative things to be going through my mind. All FaceBook does is create not so good thoughts for me. Maybe after a week I'll feel like I can live without it again. One problem...

Missing my friends; the whole reason I recreated my FaceBook in the first place. I missed my friends I don't get to see on a daily basis. Seeing their pictures pop up on my newsfeed and their thoughts on my timeline help me feel like we're still connected. I haven't quite figured out how to solve that problem. I'd enjoy receiving emails or ever better, mail with pictures or a small note; but get real, Katie. We're in 2011, not 1945. I guess we'll see what goes from here.

I honestly feel like I'm being called to take a step back from the world of social networking. I'm planning on using this time to get closer to my God. For I know whatever He's calling me to do is for a reason. Do I know what this reason is yet? Nope. But eventually I'll look back and I will. He's never steered me wrong before. Something I learned at BCM (Baptist Campus Ministries) BeachWeek this summer was something that continues to stick with me: sometimes we need to step away from the hustle and bustle of our busy lives and listen for the answer He's been providing us all along. Just take time, and listen. Which is precisely what I am going to do.