Lent is right around the corner. Every year one or more of my friends will “fast” from Social Media. Aka, for 40 days (plus Sundays) they will not use one or all of their Social Media accounts. As I watch my friends disappear from Facebook (and other places), I am always encouraged by someone in my church to do the same. While I can understand the desire to go back to the unplugged, “simpler” time, I find myself against the idea that Social Media is something to give up.
I have never heard of someone fasting from reading the newspaper, reading books, or talking to friends. Consumption of any other information source is considered integral to being a well-informed, well-rounded, mature individual. However, when it come to consuming information through SNS, it is deemed to be mindless and unintellectual, something damaging to your life. While there are times I do believe people should look up from their phones, I also believe that Social Media and the use of it is important for navigating today’s culture.
Personally, I find out about breaking news through Social Media. Often the news I consume through Social Media doesn’t even make it into the evening news or daily newspaper. Likewise, my daily conversations with friends that live far away from me occur through SNS apps. If I spend a couple of hours on Google+ with my friends, talking, playing games, and bragging about our lives through pictures, people ask me why I am not more productive with me life. If I spend the same amount of time talking to my friends on the phone, nobody tells me that I am wasting away my life. (well, maybe some would, but nobody has so far).
If having the NPR playing in your office, reading multiple newspapers during the day, and calling your friends during the week is considered to be mature and healthy lifestyle, than checking Twitter, seeing your friends posts on Facebook, and gathering information through Social Media should also be deemed as such.
“Fasting” from the information flow shouldn’t be our goal. Rather, we should challenge ourselves to use Social Media wisely to help us interact with others and be informed about current events.
I wonder if an image might be used to amplify the blog theme. Visuals can enhance your POV and underline your main points. Dean
Hi Elizabeth,
Thank you for bringing up this topic. I suppose there are a lot of different reasons for social media fasting, such as taking a break from over consumption, media and information overload, or to engage with others without the use of a device.
I’m curious to if your friends will use their time of fasting to reflect on their use of social media and how they will engage with social media once their fasting is over.
I saw this funny picture as someone’s FB profile picture recently – reminds me of your post! I think that it’s interesting how fasting from FB for Lent can build solidarity off-line as there are a lot of people doing this. Maybe it’s something they converse about and bond over at church coffee hour – strengthening weak ties!
http://www.pts.edu/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/fasting-from-facebook-4.jpg
That picture is awesome! I think Elizabeth is making a great argument here: why is fasting from social media considered a positive thing? I know my dad would love to see people shut down their SNS for lent, but he also thinks social media is frivolous and a waste of everyone’s time. I know many of my aunts and uncles, as well as my grandparents, think this way as well. Yet friends my age do not share this sentiment. Maybe our perception of social media is affected by the generation we belong to? Or more specifically, maybe our perception of social media is affected by our level of engagement with it. My dad struggles to send a text message, and extends this frustration to a negative view of all “advanced” social technology. My five year old niece often teaches me how to play games on my phone. Somehow I doubt she will grow up thinking that social media is a vice, or a wasteful use of one’s time.