But due to a combination of writer's block and lack of free time, I haven't blogged in a month and a half. I partially attribute this to giving up Twitter for Lent, since my blog ideas tend to come from the things I find worthy to rant about or comment on in Twitter.
I decided to give up Twitter for Lent because I definitely use social media too much, and wanted to prove to myself (and my friends that doubted me) that I could give up Twitter.
Once the first week passed, it was actually pretty easy to be off Twitter. It was odd not checking it, but I compensated by checking Instagram and Facebook more (which defeats the purpose of giving up Twitter..). While I occasionally had a thought or comment that was tweet-worthy, I didn't feel like I was missing out on much.
But the lesson I learned from giving up my favorite social media--is it really all that necessary? Yes it is an easy way to get first hand and a variety of news, and as a Journalism major I know and enjoy how it allows for such easy and global citizen journalism.
I began to consider the tweets that never happened, were they all that important? Some included complaining that I needed copious amounts of coffee, that I couldn't find a seat in Lindy, or that the warm weather had not come yet. Others were more substantial, about my newfound love of yoga, the announcement of a new pope, or how it was the year anniversary of when Lehigh beat Duke.
Did the world, or at least my 200 twitter followers, really need to know these things about my life? I could have just as easily turned to my friend to complain about or discuss any of the above, did the wider virtual audience really need to know my every thought? No. And this is the problem with my social media use, and giving up Twitter taught me to stop incessantly tweeting (or posting on Facebook or Instagram) and save my posts for those that have some merit or weight.
Have we as a society turned social media into shameless, constant self-promotion? I remember the days of MySpace "Top 8", profile pictures with the peace sign and kissy face, and when your popularity was determined by how many people liked your profile picture. While this is mostly reserved for middle and high school students, there is still social media self promotion among college students.
In college, it is more common that students use social media to create the image that they party a lot and to complain about exams, the weather, and the administration for not resolving any and all issues that we may confront in our daily lives.
This is very generalized, but I think most college students end up using social media to do one or more of these things at least sometimes.
But now that Lent is over and I have returned to Twitter, I will use social media in a more constructive way- to better communicate my take on events and with others, not to post incessantly about insignificant things.
