Social Media Fast Reflection

Last week, my middle school eGroup took some time to look at what the Bible says about social media and gossip.  It took some digging, but I felt some great Bible verses to relate to the topic of social media.  From what we read in Matthew 12:36, Proverbs 17:28 and 1 Corinthians 10:23-24, the Bible doesn't take the subject of how we present ourselves on social media lightly.

I challenged each of the girls to take a week to fast from social media.  We pledged together to take seven days to fast from all social media platforms in order to seek God's wisdom on how we could use social media to advance the Kingdom of God.  When craving time on any social media site, we pledged to turn to the Bible or to the Lord in prayer and seek His guidance on how we could present the Gospel through social media. 

Their first reaction to the challenge was what you would expect from a group of 10 to 14 year olds - panic.  They didn't know what they were going to do without their time on the social media sites.  Through conversations during the week, they seemed to be handling it better than they thought. 

My Reflection from the Week: If you follow me on twitter, you know that I am a bit addicted.  And, by a bit, I mean, I have a serious problem.  I do not post on facebook often.  I keep facebook around to keep track of my middle school girls and stay in touch with people who aren't on twitter.  I love Pinterest.  Obviously, I am in love with my blog.  I do not have a cool techie smart phone, so I am not on Instagram.

I had a terribly hard time being away from twitter.  Every situation that I was in, I wanted to tweet about it, mention people and hash tag it something catchy.  I hated not being in the loop on what was going on in the social media world.

Taking the time away was great for me!  I was able to realize that I can use the social media platforms that God has given me to present the Gospel in a new and fresh way.  When I am reading the Bible, I can tweet a link to what I am reading and share a personal reflection.  On facebook, I can steer myself away from petty drama by continuing to scroll instead of pitching into a debate.  I am excited to continue to present the gospel through my blog.


Have you ever taken a fast from social media and come back with a new perspective?  Do you need to take a fast from social media but are afraid of being away?