If you have not yet asked yourself why you have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram accounts or why you are on any other social media sites, chances are, you have them or are on them, for all the wrong reasons.
It is important for all of us to define the purpose for having or using social media, because if we don’t define it for ourselves, others will define it for us.
Like any good tool, social media can be misused and abuse depending on the one using it. Some use it for perverted purposes, others, for dubious purposes and still others use it to promote self.
It is not a secret, social media has brought out the narcissism in every one of us. Recently, an article in the Atlantic made some bold claims that “we’re in the middle of a raging narcissism epidemic.”
In the article, they cited a study showing that “among a group of 37,000 college students, narcissistic personality traits rose just as quickly as obesity from the 1980s to the present.”
Citing Elias Aboujaoude, a professor of psychiatry at Stanford, the article claims that in “virtual space many of the physical interactions that restrain behavior vanish. Delusions of grandeur, narcissism, viciousness, impulsivity, and infantile behavior for some people rise to the surface.”
When it comes to connecting with others on social media, I am most interested in connecting with people who use social media on purpose, not just because everyone else uses it any given reason.
Take a look at this first ever tweet of Rick Warren. I think it serves as a great model for venturing into the social media world:
You can see how he recognizes the potential danger of your entire online presence becoming all about you. But in this tweet, he also clearly defines his goal for jumping in.
I think we should define our intentions before jumping into social media. If we don’t, we might lose our way, waste our precious time and spend our days self promoting.
Good news is, it is never too late to reevaluate why you have an online presence and make necessary adjustments. Here is a short list of first steps:
- Define your purpose for an online presence from the get go
- Decide which platform best suits your goals
- Dedicate specific time for engaging
- Determine to learn from others and grow in the process, instead of getting lost in frivolous activities
- Delete other accounts that steal your time and divert your focus
- Deliver transformational content
- Don’t put yourself in a box. Enjoy it!
People all over the world all have different reasons for using social media: for some it’s just to connect with friends and meet new ones. For other, it’s a way to get their message out into the world. There is no one way or reason, just make sure that it is advancing your cause and not hindering your purpose or wasting your time.
Walter Bright 
Tweeted… 🙂
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Hahaha
Than you brother…
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Couldn´t be more in agreement with the tips you said at the end and also what you said at the beginning about define your purpose. What I didn´t know or didn´t expect, maybe being a bit naive by my part, is that this social media is creating a bunch of narcissist.
As I see it, for me is a platform to read all kinds of people, learn from them, exchange opinions, use it as a platform for my writing although this last one is not much really a concern for me, I take it a day at a time I´m a recently new writer so I don´t expect to make a living out of it, although there´s always that maybe inside your brain, but not my priority, the priorities is what I cited before reading other blogs very different from me that I find stimulating to the brain and soul, and then have fun reading and writing.
Very interesting post, didn´t cross my mind that thing about making us narcissist.
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This is some really good advice. God Bless!
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Hey Carolyn, thank you. I have taken some of my time back, simply by adjusting my online presence to activities that help me achieve my goals. Which are: Making Jesus Famous
Connecting with Family and Friends
Learning new thing and growing in community
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Wow, that’s great! It’s like weeding out the things that may be of some value, but are not helping us move forward. God Bless!
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Good post. As someone who loves social media, it’s a question I need to constantly be asking (we all do) so as to not be doing it for the wrong reasons. That being said, social media – and I include blogs in that category – can be used for so much good. Sharing the good news of God’s love, positive messages to those we know and don’t know, and a sense of community in some ways. I hope you are doing well, my friend!
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Hey Brian, I am doing very good. I whole heartedly agree with you. I think I should have emphasize the enormous good social media is doing and can do for the Kingdom of God, for community and other worthy causes. Obviously, that is why most of us have blogs. I just don’t want us to be carried away by the noise of what’s trending – the spirit of grandeur and narcissism. That we can make Jesus famous, serve others and be productive in the process.
Many thanks for your thoughts…
Hope you are doing great!
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Amen to making Jesus famous! Always enjoy your posts, Walter.
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Thanks Brian, I feel the same about your blog…
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Great post, Walter.
I have a Twitter account that my daughter set up for me, but I’ve never actually composed a tweet, I’ve only re-tweeted a few times and they were both from you 🙂
I have Facebook, but only to keep up with family and friends.
I blog to spread the message of hope.
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That’s what I call on purpose.
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I love the new look a lot!!! 🙂
and I think i like to tweet too lol
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Well said my brother.
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Thanks a million
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I have gotten off of all social media except my blog. I do have have an anonymous facebook and twitter account that is lined to an anonymous blog I write for Jesus. I don’t spend any time on either one as the posts simply post to FB and twitter. I found that I spent way to much time on social media and it was taking away from my family. I spend more time in the Word and now with wordpress I feel like I have a community of other believers who encourage me. Thanks for the post!
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