It's crazy when you begin to self reflect. I don't recommend it. It's not very much fun. You begin to grab hold of some things that you take for granted or take lightly and find that you need to change.
I love change.
I love changing other things.
I hate changing me.
Do you want to hear a confession? I truly enjoy social media. One night I was watching a Tigers playoff game and bantering back and forth with a number of friends on Twitter. It added to my enjoyment of the game.
It was all out "there".
Last night a few of us started talking about Twitter. A comment was made that has stuck like a "splinter in the brain" and brought some of my self reflection full circle.
He said, "You guys put so much stuff out there it's really hard to find what's valuable."
As a pastor, there is one thing I know, words matter. I desperately want my words to count and to have meaning. I want them to have purpose. Everything I do is all about words. When I started to write a blog I thought about why I blogged.
I have never thought about why I social media'ed.
So, here's the deal, the way I use social media needs to change. That witty banter on Twitter? It's going to disappear from the public forum. It will find its way into Direct Messages. Twitter is all about interaction. So there will still be some @-tweeting but only when it counts, when there is something to be gained by doing it. The posts will be fewer because what I put out there needs to have meaning. Typically, they will be connected to larger posts at Tumblr/Posterous.
Facebook? I will probably continue to use it the way I have been. Which is to post things about my family, links, and various ministry related things.
What about Goole Plus? That's been a different beast all along. I am not sure yet.
Foursquare? Is there value in people knowing when I check in? Nope. I will be moving to Forecast and use it when I want it to be publicly known where I am going to be and for a purpose.
My hope is that when someone looks at my feed on Twitter, my timeline on Facebook, or my series of posts that they will quickly and easily find something of value and meaning.
As one of my favorite blog's title reads, "Less Clutter, Less Noise".
Interesting point -- both from the perspective of "What is the message my life is giving" as well as the "Why do your followers follow you" perspective. Thanks for the post :-)
ReplyDeleteSure thing Jennifer! Hopefully you and other "followers" will find me to be a better follow. =D
ReplyDeleteI admit, I'm relieved by this reflection and agree with the conclusion. I am a frequent unfollower/unsubscriber of those whose wisdom is buried too deeply in their gibberish. Life is noisy enough already. I'm in search of nuggets.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the encouragement Glenn. This will require me to be so much more disciplined in my use of these technologies. Here's to hoping that I won't be adding to the noise.
ReplyDeleteGod gave us two ears and one mouth - I'm sure there's a reason for that ratio. 8{) During the last five years, I have probably read more than one hundred posts, tweets, and comments of the ilk - "Add value". So much of what I read on Facebook and Twitter should be handled with DM, IM, or some other person-to-person message instead of a public post. I often browse through LinkedIn just o follow some sane discussion threads. Or, gasp, use the telephone to talk with one person at a time. Who knew you could use your phone to talk to people? 8{)
ReplyDeleteDana, so true. I despise the phone. I would rather talk in person. I think that you're right about things that should be handled out of the public timeline. -- daniel rosesent with Sparrow
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