Will Social Media Make Me Popular?

Do you use a social media site on a regular basis or know friends who seem to display their entire life online?

I want to fill you in on a little inside secret. Social media sites have developed a false sense of comfort specifically for teenagers. From your backdrop choices, profile pictures, “friends and followers”, images, and any other design formats on your page, you are made to believe that your audience is a close, tight knit group of people who seem to know and understand who you are.

Once the scene is established, you begin to pour out whatever is in your head without processing through the filter of your mind before posting.

Sharing your moment-by-moment thoughts, actions, and activities is not a new concept. Actually, the idea has been around for quite some time, but the form of writing was through personal journaling and diaries; a one-way conversation.

Now a days, marketing strategists have found ways to tap into the emotions of teens and have forced what once was private into a public manner.

In other words, teenagers have recognized that by posting their “private” thoughts to a public audience gains them more attention and attempts to develop a sense of self-worth.

However, finding value in those who comment on your posts or keeping track of your “likes” or followers is actually creating a false hope and an inaccurate picture of your real worth.

In the eyes of God the Creator, you are worth more than what others have to say about your comments. God knows how it is in a human’s character to worry about what others think about them or how they look. Yet, he says not focus so much on the opinion of others.

“Don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or if the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your inner life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the ravens, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, carefree in the care of God. And you count far more… “What I’m trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God’s giving.” (Luke 12:22-24, 31 MSG)

Social media can be a great way to connect with those you personally know and see on a daily basis or to keep in contact with friends or family members who have moved away. Yet, when you seek the value of who you are from the responses on your social media page, you are hurting your self-esteem and missing out on the bigger picture; you are somebody! You have been created in God’ image (Genesis 1:27), and to Him “you are worth more than gold.” (Nicole)

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

 “For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in.” (Psalm 27:10)