There is something about seeing the lives of young children chronicled on social media platforms that disturbs me. It may be a generational issue, but I wonder if we are not creating a cohort of people who don’t live life; they perform it for likes and comments. Will they be able to find their value and worth separately from whether what others think about what they do, wear, and feel goes viral? And do parents set their children up to always be in “photo” mode—smiling for the cameras—to impress others? What happens when trolls and unscrupulous people feel the right to comment, leaving emotional devastation in their wake?
So, I propose a global holiday free of posting on social media. It would be a day to live life just for the wonder of being alive, without posting our food, dress, or actions. It would be a time to stop and reflect on your inner beauty and maybe learn that you don’t need the approval of people you don’t know to feel good about yourself. It would be a moment to step away from the cameras and be invisible to the world. On this day, people could go to restaurants, meet up with friends and family, and be themselves —natural, honest selves. It would be the selves that aren’t concerned about what other people think or that have a need to be constantly relevant.
As a Sociology professor, one assignment I gave students was to take a break from all social media and electronics, including emails and texts, for several hours on a day of their choice. Then, they were to write an essay about how it felt, the insights it produced, and how they felt emotionally and socially. The papers were amazing.
One young man wrote about leaving his dorm room and meeting new people in the common areas. He enjoyed talking to people, but never took time away from social media to get to know them. One alarming essay talked about feeling they had committed “social suicide”. But thankfully, the assignment also taught nearly all of them just how much time they spent on social media and how addictive and obsessive it can be. They were appalled by the amount of time they spent sharing their lives with others and by the hurt when others who didn’t know them wrote ugly statements about their endeavors.
So, I think the world would profit from a day free of social media posts, a moment to live truthfully and reflect on how one wants to be remembered in the future. A day when parents cease to place their children on social media, without their permission, and especially so much that children think life is a show or exhibition lived to earn approval. I believe we will all profit from a day free of the misinformation, disinformation, putrid hatred, prejudice, and unkindness of social media. Yes, social media has some positive aspects, but we still need a day to just be ourselves and recognize that our value and worth are measured in likes or comments, but in the fact that we are made in the image of a loving Lord.
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