October 2020
David Hixon • October 8, 2020
Social Media Addiction
Social Media.
You know what I’m talking about. Facebook. Instagram. Twitter. SnapChat. TikTok. The list goes on and on. Have you ever checked your phone to see how much time you spend on social media every day? You know there is a way to check that right? You might be surprised. Most people underestimate dramatically how much time they spend on social media. It is addictive and it is designed by very smart people to be that way. If you haven’t canceled your Netflix account yet you might want to check out an excellent documentary on there called “the Social Dilemma.” This is a series of interviews with many people in the tech industry who previously had major jobs at Facebook and Instagram and Google, etc. They are all speaking up to let people know how all these programs are designed to keep you online and to keep you engaged. They use very sophisticated AI to lure you in and keep you coming back. This artificial intelligence is running all the time and evaluating everything you do when you are online. It is constantly calculating and directing and nudging you to spend more time online. The interface of your social media program is designed to influence your brain in ways you don’t even realize. You may have heard about the endorphins that your brain generates and these are prime motivators for constantly picking up your phone. You feel uneasy if you don’t check it every few minutes or seconds. It is a chemical reaction in your brain that gives you somewhat of a mild “high” when you pick up your phone, maybe like I do just to check the time since I don’t wear a watch. So what can or should we be doing about social media?
Some people go cold turkey. They just say “nope, I’m done” and they opt out of social media altogether. This is not a bad choice but for many people it might not be the best choice. I am reminded (as a point of comparison) when I went to a church years ago that had a gymnasium. But this church did not allow anyone to wear shorts in the gym, only sweats and jeans and long pants. I asked why? I was told because if they let people wear shorts then some people would wear shorts that were too short and who was going to tell them to change? I said, “I will.” And that began the change to allowing appropriate length shorts in the gym. I think, for most, the same is true in social media. BUT, I will admit it is tougher to use social media appropriately than it is to only allow certain length shorts in a gym. I try to be wise about social media usage, but I will admit that sometimes it gets the best of me. I enjoy the pictures on Instagram but I don’t really do much on there. On Facebook I use it primarily to keep up with family and friends and obviously we love keeping people up-to-date on what is going on in Jamaica. I can’t imagine NOT using Facebook. On one hand I would lose so much in relationships with family and friends. I wouldn’t keep up with as many people as I do now. I feel like my life would be less rich because my circle of friends would be much smaller or I would simply not know what is going on with my friends and family. And when it comes to our ministry at Noah’s Ark it would be 100x harder without Facebook. There are things we can accomplish via email and our web site and our newsletter but none of them hits as many people as quickly. My biggest problem is not Facebook but Twitter. Twitter is instantaneous news. Something big happens or someone famous dies (like I “need” to know that) it shows up almost immediately. I am on Twitter primarily for three things. News. Sports. Religion. I follow people and organizations and news sites that I feel will keep me better informed. In Jamaica, for me, it is somewhat of a lifeline to what is going on back in the US. I can keep up. I can stay informed much like a newspaper that keeps updating every minute of every day. At its best Twitter is an amazing thing. At its worst it is destructive and divisive and a cesspool of ignorance and bad language and bad thinking. I just saw this poll on Twitter today:
Agree or Disagree??
Twitter (Social Media) is an awful place?
Agree 82.2%
Disagree 17.8%
10,771 votes · 22 hours left
Yes, this poll was ON Twitter and even people ON Twitter agree it is an awful place and yet there we are, voting about how bad it is while using it.
Twitter is the most addictive for me but it’s also the one I have to watch myself or it will dominate my day. And not only that but it can also have a very negative impact on my thinking and my mood. Right now, it seems no matter whether it is sports or religion or news, everyone is talking politics and the election. It is too much. I either get mad at people I disagree with or I get frustrated by the news which never seems to get it right. And what can I do? Nothing. But still it frustrates me. Then there are the endless comments no matter where you stand on anything. So much hate and ignorance that it becomes oppressive. I could go on, but you can see the problem with Twitter and to some degree every social media platform. One, they are highly addictive and two, they can be a dark and hateful place. So, we can’t just say all social media is okay. There have to be limits. There has to be accountability. And we haven’t even talked about children and teens. That is a whole other conversation.
My very most favorite verse in scripture (besides John 3:16) is probably Philippians 4:8, “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.” We need to use this as a guide to guard our hearts and minds. We cannot fill our minds with garbage and expect to be able to live a Christlike life. The old computer saying of “garbage in, garbage out” (GIGO) is absolutely true and applies to our minds. When you find yourself reading or watching trash then just stop and quote Philippians 4:8 to yourself. Sometimes Jennifer wants to read me a story, a tragic story or a horrendous accounting of someone and what happened to them and I just have to say STOP!! I can’t do it. Not that I don’t have empathy for them, but I cannot at that moment allow my mind to be filled with something that will bring me to a dark place. I have to do this daily with Twitter and even sometimes Facebook. Especially with the election I just cannot allow my mind to dwell on unlovely and false things. And social media and the internet in general has created a place where we no longer know what news is true and what is false. When I was a kid and Walter Cronkite said something virtually everyone believed him. Now? We don’t know who or what to believe and it leads to frustration and anger and divisiveness. Let’s promise to fight against that. One of the ways we can do that is to limit our usage. We can read our Bible, or we can pray, or we can even watch some good TV (sounds weird suggesting TV but depending on the program it can be much better for our brains) to keep us from becoming addicted to social media. It’s not too late. And do yourself a favor, go watch “the Social Dilemma.”