“How do I keep my private life private with social media?”
When I pull away all the onion layers for people learning about social media, this is their core fear. They wrestle with two primary realities.
- Why would anyone care about what I am doing?
- How do I control the message?
I’m not saying that every person who uses social media has something to hide. But I am saying that nearly every adult is increasingly aware that their use of the internet can be a both an asset and a liability– often times at the same time.
I call it “life schooshing.” When I want to come across as intelligent, I use the phrase “life convergence.”
Rather than fight it I suggest you learn to embrace and manage it.
In the past, we could have a public persona and a private persona. And because theose spheres of influence rarely collided it wasn’t a big deal if those lifestyles didn’t line up with one another. A pastor could be a complete Republican hero on Sunday morning, while privately supporting the most liberal Democrats with his money. No one would ever know or ever care to know!
The internet has changed all of that.
Now? You’d be an idiot to try to keep all of these spheres apart. Your high school friends on Facebook will call you out. Your family will call you out. Your church will call you out. Your co-workers will call you out. Worse case scenario, your sins will call you out.
Two realistic choices for dealing with life schmooshing.
- Go Amish. Unplug from social media. Don’t have a Google account. Stop using Facebook. Don’t comment on people’s blogs. Pretend Twitter doesn’t exist.
- Embrace incarnational living. It’s not a bad thing to have all of your life converge together. Trust me. It’s more blessing than curse. If you truly want to be a person of integrity in all areas of your life… social convergence is a great thing!
What are some ways social media is helping your spheres converge in healthy ways? What are some fears you have? What about concerns of privacy?
Leave a Reply