Holy crap! I can’t believe how much time I spend on social media these days.

Is this happening to you?

There was a time just a couple of years ago, when I didn’t even access my Facebook account for three years and I didn’t miss it at all. But now I have re-instated my Facebook account and I recently joined Twitter where I have a whole 41 followers. (Is this a good time to beg you to follow me?)

I still don’t even know really what Instagram or Pinterest are but still I seem to spend a lot of time just scrolling around on these two social media sites I am mildly adept at using.

And like everything else, sometimes this seems like a good thing and sometimes it seems like a bad thing, but the truth is that social media itself is neutral and the only thing that can make it good or bad is the users intentions and perspective.

And just like with anything, mine are both.

Social Media is my friend when:

I get to share things that are meaningful, funny or important to me with people I care about and respect.

Long-lost friends or new-to-be–friends contact me and share from their hearts. I have had so many personal messages on Facebook that have touched me. Really, I am truly grateful for these connections which would have never happened without Facebook.

I feel less isolated. I live in a remote location and although I see humans frequently sometimes it isn’t as often as my extroverted personality needs to feel good.

Social Media is my Foe when:

I’m just going to check for a moment—just a quick moment—before getting on to another task and half an hour later I am numbly scrolling around even though there is nothing particular I am looking at. Man, I can really waste time on social media.

It is way past my bedtime and I am doing the above.

I take little comments personally. Social Media is extremely personal (I mean we share intimate details about our lives, our children and our spouses) and at the same time completely impersonal. Things can be written without the consequence of seeing the expression on a person’s face as the comment is received.

And that is just the way it is. Does anything need to change? Am I going to make a rule that I should spend less time on social media? Probably not.

Rules become broken as fast as they are made and then I just feel like a failure for not being able to even keep my own rule.

But what I will do is keep noticing. Noticing what my preferences are about my experience on social media. Because that is all I can really bring to the table, my awareness of wherever I happen to be. And right now for me that seems to be hanging out on Facebook and Twitter.

Hope to see you around there, sometime.

Hope to see you around there, sometime.
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Editor: Ashleigh Hitchcock

Photo: flickr

Hope to see you around there, sometime.