Social Media Mistakes

We’ve all entered this surreal, never-before-navigated world of social media.  We’ve been given a giant megaphone to say anything, post anything, and share anything.  But none of us grew up learning online etiquette.  So, we're bound to make some mistakes.

As Christians, we’ve also been given a wonderful witnessing tool through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, ect.  People are watching us, and we can have a profound impact on people—planting seeds of encouragement, humor, truth, family values, and hope.

Of course, we’re not perfect! We don’t always realize that we could be blowing our own testimony (or be making people really want to unsubscribe/ unfollow us) with the following online habits:

Daily complaints and gripes.  The occasional posting of a problem makes you a real person and can get people praying for you.  That’s a good thing.  But daily?   Is your life really that bad?? Really???

Political rants.  Not everyone agrees with your political position, and this can be a big turn off to an unbeliever who doesn’t understand where you’re coming from.  Moderation & wisdom is a must in this arena, because truth is needed and we do need to stand up for righteousness.  Choose your issues and your battles wisely.

Sharing sexy pics.  You look great in a bikini, and you just had an awesome time at the beach.  So why not share your pics?  Please remember your Christian brothers may struggle in this area.  Their wives may not appreciate it either! Modesty is a beautiful thing (I Tim. 2:9)

Posting multiple pics daily of your family.  Every single day we get to see every single activity your family was involved in. Ok, we get it. Your family is beautiful.

Passive aggressive posts against. . . well, we’re not sure who you’re referring to.  But you get us thinking and imagining, “Who are they talking about? Are they talking about me? Are they mad at me?”

Posting too much.  Get a life!  Get off your phone & computer occasionally.  We’ve all seen the person who posts multiple times a day—“getting a coffee, eating lunch w/ Sam, just signed up for a 5-k, picking up kids after school, at soccer practice,  can’t sleep, etc.”  Then there’s the stalker who comments on every single post you put up.  Everything in moderation people!

Take a minute to think before you post.

  

I’m sure not saying I’ve got this whole social media thing figured out.  I regularly check myself and my attitude when I’m about to share something; sometimes I ask myself, “Will posting this help anyone? Will posting this do any harm?"  We all must carefully navigate this relatively new world of social media.

You can’t miss if you follow the Philippians 4:8 rule:  Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.”  If your posts reflect this verse, you will be that “salt” and “light” that God has called us to be.

What bugs you about social media?