Is Facebook Stealing Our Time?

"The biggest deception of our digital age may be the lie that says we can be omni-competent, omni-informed, and omni-present." (Kevin Deyoung, Crazy Busy)

Whether I'm in line at Chick-fil-A, checking out at grocery store, or relaxing with my family, Facebook is a world where I can go at any second of the day. It has a strange pull to my heart because I feel connected to people. I get an adrenaline high when one of my new profile pictures has 50 more "likes" than my last one. My popularity hinges off of the volume of comments on how beautiful I am. This unrealistic virtual world influences my moods and behavior. 

Have I created a beast within my soul that screams for the attention of my online friends over the human relationships around me?

This unhealthy appetite not only hurts those around me but steals my time. As I stated in my last post, God is calling me to grow up and create boundaries in my life. Guess where I had to start? With Facebook. Although social media is a great tool I've allowed Facebook to be an outlet for ME instead of using it as an outlet for good. 

Five Reasons Facebook Needs Boundaries: 
"According to Paul Booth, PhD, an assistant professor of media and cinema studies in the College of Communication at DePaul University in Chicago, social media certainly affects how we engage with one another across all venues and ages. 'There has been a shift in the way we communicate; rather than face-to-face interaction, we’re tending to prefer mediated communication,' he says. 'We’d rather e-mail than meet; we’d rather text than talk on the phone.'" (Maura Keller, Social Work Today)

1. It can compete with my quiet time
2. It can become an idol (something I look to to fulfill a need only God can fill) 
3. It can give me a false sense of filling my emotional needs
4. It can make me satisfied with shallow relationships instead of face to face interaction
5. It can cause me to withdraw from my family and friends 

Creating Boundaries with Facebook 

"And as Christ's soldier, do not let yourself become tied up in the affairs of this life, for then you cannot satisfy the one who has enlisted you in his army." (2 Timothy 2:4)

Is Facebook bad and evil? No. It can be used as a great tool to accomplish a great purpose. My confession to you today is that I have not found that balance yet. Because of this, it is good for me to set boundaries around this area of my life and learn how to be disciplined with my time. Here are few suggestions: 

1. Create sacred space | Maybe it needs to be the dinner table or when you're in the car with family or friends. Perhaps when your participating in a activity or event, it's not the time to be scrolling through Facebook. Create boundaries where your phone or other electronics are not with you and you can be fully engaged in the moment.
2. Protect your sleep | Scrolling through Facebook as your going to sleep or first thing in the morning is a sign that you're addicted. Even checking Facebook in the middle of the night is a common problem. Set a time from evening to morning where you aren't on social media at all.
3. Focus on school and work | A lot of our study time and work is done on a laptop. Created boundaries when you should have your social media tabs open and when to close it. 
4. Remove constant temptation | Every time your phone buzzes, it's easy to drop what we're doing to find out the latest in the virtual world. Turn off notifications. You can check your Facebook app when YOU are ready to check it instead of every time your phone goes off.

If these areas of our life control us, God is calling you and I to do something about it! "Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us." (Hebrews 12:1)