Hey! I hope you all are having a good summer so far. It has been very warm and beautiful here. This weekend is supposed to be around 90 degrees Fahrenheit. But you probably didn't want to know about the weather!
As a Christian, home-schooled, teen girl, I find it really frustrating when you can't enter contests or drawings without having a silly social media account. I do have an email and a blog, but I don't need nor want a Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest/ Instagram account. They are just silly. Let me explain why.
When I don't think social media is OK
First of all, there are some reasons I don't have social media. (1) My parents won't let me. When I was about 13, I really resented their decision, because it seemed like all my friends had it. I don't resent it anymore, because I realized I didn't want to be like everyone else.
(2) I also believe that social media is a very selfish. I'll give you an example of what I mean. I had a friend come over the other day, we'll call her Jessica. I hadn't seen Jessica in over a year, due to a rough patch in her life. Finally Jessica and I got the chance to spend a couple of hours together. There was so much I wanted to ask her about and talk about, but she spent half of the time on her smartphone. She left shortly thereafter. Because Jessica spent most of the time on her phone, she missed out on quality time, not just with me, but most likely with other people as well. Social media is also selfish because the amount of "selfies" are on there. The other day my dad pointed put the goofy invention, known as the "selfie stick". (For those of you who don't know what a selfie stick is, first of all, I'm proud of you. A selfie stick is a long rod with an attachment on the end meant for holding a smartphone.) My mom is so right in saying "This is the 'me' generation." When you take a selfie everyday, post on Instagram, and wait for the likes to come in, you are setting yourself up for failure. There will always be a prettier girl, a more- muscle-y guy, and a cooler person out there. My dad once said, "There will always be someone better out there. Just be the absolute best you, you can be."
Social media, in my opinion, doesn't honor God either. Unless your ministry is through your Facebook account, there isn't a lot of God- honoring going on there. What I mean by that is like, a celebrity made a choice you don't agree with, so you go bashing them in the comment section. You figure to yourself, "They don't know who I am. It's not like I'm being really mean." When you have to justify things, that's when it's time to stop.
When social media is OK
Now, I do realize that some of you use your social media account for your ministry or to search for old friends. Both are fine. I only have a problem when people use their social media as a prime source of contact or a modeling portfolio.
On a lighter note, I think social media has the potential to be really fun! If you are not already ministering to people with your social media account, I'd like to encourage you to do something like take a picture of something beautiful in nature, like a sunset or a flower, and in the caption, give the glory to God, baby!
As a Christian, home-schooled, teen girl, I find it really frustrating when you can't enter contests or drawings without having a silly social media account. I do have an email and a blog, but I don't need nor want a Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest/ Instagram account. They are just silly. Let me explain why.
When I don't think social media is OK
First of all, there are some reasons I don't have social media. (1) My parents won't let me. When I was about 13, I really resented their decision, because it seemed like all my friends had it. I don't resent it anymore, because I realized I didn't want to be like everyone else.
(2) I also believe that social media is a very selfish. I'll give you an example of what I mean. I had a friend come over the other day, we'll call her Jessica. I hadn't seen Jessica in over a year, due to a rough patch in her life. Finally Jessica and I got the chance to spend a couple of hours together. There was so much I wanted to ask her about and talk about, but she spent half of the time on her smartphone. She left shortly thereafter. Because Jessica spent most of the time on her phone, she missed out on quality time, not just with me, but most likely with other people as well. Social media is also selfish because the amount of "selfies" are on there. The other day my dad pointed put the goofy invention, known as the "selfie stick". (For those of you who don't know what a selfie stick is, first of all, I'm proud of you. A selfie stick is a long rod with an attachment on the end meant for holding a smartphone.) My mom is so right in saying "This is the 'me' generation." When you take a selfie everyday, post on Instagram, and wait for the likes to come in, you are setting yourself up for failure. There will always be a prettier girl, a more- muscle-y guy, and a cooler person out there. My dad once said, "There will always be someone better out there. Just be the absolute best you, you can be."
Social media, in my opinion, doesn't honor God either. Unless your ministry is through your Facebook account, there isn't a lot of God- honoring going on there. What I mean by that is like, a celebrity made a choice you don't agree with, so you go bashing them in the comment section. You figure to yourself, "They don't know who I am. It's not like I'm being really mean." When you have to justify things, that's when it's time to stop.
When social media is OK
Now, I do realize that some of you use your social media account for your ministry or to search for old friends. Both are fine. I only have a problem when people use their social media as a prime source of contact or a modeling portfolio.
On a lighter note, I think social media has the potential to be really fun! If you are not already ministering to people with your social media account, I'd like to encourage you to do something like take a picture of something beautiful in nature, like a sunset or a flower, and in the caption, give the glory to God, baby!
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