Social Media Frenzy

Hoping Your Click Makes Me Whole

While social media abounds in every nook and cranny of the Internet, loneliness is on the rise. Why? How can an active society that’s ever increasingly involved in social media be lonelier? Why are our waves of friends, likes and comments not satisfying our souls? Have we substituted “Likes” and “Friend Requests” for true intimacy? And if true intimacy is actually available and not just another Big Foot or Loch Ness monster myth, then why can’t we seem to find it? How come our longings never find the satisfaction we so desire?

On Wednesday I discussed our individual holy of holies – the inner core of our beings – as it related to personal boundaries. As the world has increased in its exhibitionism and voyeuristic pursuits on social media, we’ve made our hearts a thoroughfare for any passerby. We hock our selves at the open-market bazaar in full view of the world. And what is the price? Simply give me a click of validation, awareness, worth and love.

One is the Loneliest Number

Am I pontificating on a high soapbox in this? Nope, I am guilty. I’ve not been able to conquer the “kitty memes” well enough to be sufficiently successful on Facebook, Twitter or other social media outlets. If that were my source of affirmation, I’d have long since offed myself because I am abysmal at all these social media engagements. But I can say I have attempted to divert others into the abyss of my dark sucking need in other ways. I’ve put myself up on the auction block for the twinkling eye of notice many times! I’ve made my heart a thoroughfare hoping someone, anyone, would stop at my rest area and affirm my existence.

Why do we make our hearts so accessible? Why do we attempt to herd the masses into our secret place in order to fill the void? Because we’re looking, actually begging, for something that will make us intact. The problem is that the pedestrian way through my heart only ekes away at my wholeness. The foot traffic diminishes me –­ it doesn’t build me up.

Need for The Solution

Our hearts are sacred not secular. Our wholeness is found in gazing upon the Lord and making ourselves attractive to Him, not countless others. My holy of holies – my private garden – is the place where He walks with me in the cool of the morning. This is a place designed for stillness and rest, settling my anxious fears and uneasy human needs.

Social Media is just one of the sources that can dilute my person if wrongly used. My frenzy to fulfill my own need creates a kind of chaos that will only tear me apart. Forcing a mob of people into my secret place, hoping for true intimate connection, will only leave me hollow. I will look like Woodstock a day after the festival, one big muddy mess.

As I told Irene in the comments of my last post: “If we leak the power of our spirits by having a ready access to everyone, we can’t be victorious.” I recommended both Watchman Nee’s Deep Calls Unto Deep and the audio series The Heavenly Man, because each delves into how to maintain and develop our spiritual life in order that we may actually be intact.

Social Media Dilemma

My goal in writing this post is not to deter people from social media involvement. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Linked In, Snapchat, etc. are not the devil. The issue is my heart, ever my heart. The call of the ages has never changed with the fads and fancy of man. “There’s only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:42 NLT).

In the increasing frenzy of social media, I’m presented with a choice. Actually, my reaction to the stimuli will expose my heart. What am I hungering for? What’s my motivation? Am I attempting to satisfy my round hole of God need with a square peg of human interaction? Will I follow the Lord into this social media arena, only looking at what He wants to see through my eyes? Or will I become a social media junkie, diminishing my light and life, all the while looking for the affirming interaction only found in Jesus?