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| Photo by Simon |
social media has not been on my want-to-do list these days.
if it weren't for a handful of long-distant friends that i like to stay in touch with, i would abandon Facebook and Twitter altogether. desperate for deeper, relevant, real content, i have unsubscribed to a dozen blogs and subscribed to a few new-to-me blogs. i've weaned myself from Pinterest; craving genuine creativity and originality.
if it weren't for a handful of long-distant friends that i like to stay in touch with, i would abandon Facebook and Twitter altogether. desperate for deeper, relevant, real content, i have unsubscribed to a dozen blogs and subscribed to a few new-to-me blogs. i've weaned myself from Pinterest; craving genuine creativity and originality.
if my element is where my skills and passions collide, that sweet spot where i love to do it, and i'm good at it, then social media simply isn't my element right now. (thanks for teaching me that concept, tsh) i can't be good at something that i don't love doing, and right now, i don't love the world of social media. i don't even like it.
this is the uncanny valley of social media. and i was in it.
uncanny valley, or Bukimi no Tani Genshō, is a hypothesis coined by robotics professor Masahiro Mori that describes people’s revulsion to humanlike robots, whose appearance resembled, but did not quite replicate, that of a real human. the more human-like the robot seemed, the more repulsed people are by it.
uncanny valley, or Bukimi no Tani Genshō, is a hypothesis coined by robotics professor Masahiro Mori that describes people’s revulsion to humanlike robots, whose appearance resembled, but did not quite replicate, that of a real human. the more human-like the robot seemed, the more repulsed people are by it.
i read about this and relate it to social media, and it makes perfect sense. once upon a time, before there were carbon copy bloggers, before the competition and comparison games, before cliques formed and clicks were counted, being involved in social media was something i truly enjoyed. the more self-promoting, copycat, superficial callowness there is online, the more repulsed i became by it. i went to the uncanny valley.
in my quiet time, i learn from the Lord (via Paul) to stay clear of "these people"...
"As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They'll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they're animals. Stay clear of these people." 2 Timothy 3:1-5
so i unsubscribe and unfollow and hide and close my laptop. i buy a new journal and i stop writing here. i stay clear.
and i read, study, and obey...
i hung out in the uncanny valley, praying for correction and direction. the further away i stepped from "these people," the clearer it became who were the diligent, unashamed workers and teachers using social media to rightly divide the word of truth.
the great thing about valley's? they are V-shaped channels leading to an outlet. valleys have peaks on either sides, and God doesn't want us to stay there. He promises to bring us through them.
as i spent more time with Him, i was inspired by His Word and my "want to write" started coming back.
and i read, study, and obey...
"Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us." 2 Tim 1:13
"Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness." 2 Tim 2:14
"All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right." 2 Tim 3:16
i hung out in the uncanny valley, praying for correction and direction. the further away i stepped from "these people," the clearer it became who were the diligent, unashamed workers and teachers using social media to rightly divide the word of truth.
the great thing about valley's? they are V-shaped channels leading to an outlet. valleys have peaks on either sides, and God doesn't want us to stay there. He promises to bring us through them.
as i spent more time with Him, i was inspired by His Word and my "want to write" started coming back.
"Lord my God, you are very great....You commanded the waters, and they ran away. At the sound of Your thunder they rushed off. They flowed down the mountains. They went into the valleys. They went to the place You appointed for them." Psalm 104:7-8
I pray.
Lord, You are very great! Lead me through this valley to the place You appointed for me. Amen.
