Social Media Monsters

I've been wanting to post about this for some time but my husband had total knee replacement 4 weeks ago and my time has been otherwise occupied caring for him and taking him to doctor appointments and physical therapy. Please understand that this post is directed straight at me along with anyone else who may be guilty. In our age of technology and the craze of social media ... Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, etc. we have created self absorbed, ego driven monsters. 

Everyone using them have at one time or another used it as their platform of "1 min to several minutes of fame". Not only do people air their dirty laundry and drama filled lives on their chosen media site, they are constantly checking to see who has reacted by liking, loving, commenting or sharing their post. If no one has, they suddenly feel rejected and ignored. If there is a large response, the ego is stroked and people feel important and valued.

Wow! I have been guilty of this! Especially where this blog is concerned. I mean many now famous people got their start by an ordinary blog! (Ree Drummond for instance) Now, I really have no desire to be famous but the more people who read your blog, the more people you have reached with your ideas!  I started my blogs to reach people, make them think, and to educate and encourage when I can. I have more than once felt useless and rejected when no one (including my own family) has commented on my blog posts or even acknowledged that they read it. I have learned to take it in stride and shove off those feelings because I apparently have more readers than I realize and they are reading but not commenting or sharing my posts.(I have realized this because once in a blue moon someone makes a comment and tells me they have been a long time reader!)  I keep in my mind that if I only make ONE person think or be encouraged or convicted or whatever, then I have served the purpose for which I started blogging in the first place. 

The above pic says it all really! It isn't just women but men also who are guilty of ignoring those around them while looking at their phones. I think cell phones and all technology devices can suck people in, but cell phones are so much more accessible. Tablets, computers, laptops, gaming devices can all create the same monsters as far as engaging in them and ignoring those around you. To me, it matters not which social media, website or game you are engaged in, if you are ignoring those around you, it is not a good thing! Resentments can build up quickly. Often the other person begins to do their own device engaging in response to being ignored by the first person and then pretty soon everyone is doing their own thing and isolating themselves from the very people sitting in the same room as them. 

I am going to start a new rule in my family that during meal time especially, there are no phones! People need to learn the art of conversation again. Over the past year, I have come to realize that even my husband and I talk less and are now silent for longer periods if our phones are put away. That is not a good thing! We have lost the art of talking to one another like we used to do. Don't get me wrong, we still have good conversations but there are times when it seems as though we struggle with topics to talk about and during those moments of silence, I notice that we both end up grabbing our phones and looking at something there. I don't like it and I want to do something about it. 

Just a little post to make you think and check yourself to see if you have become a media monster.