Social Media Diet for the New Year

“….Darkness shall cover the earth…but not you….” – Isaiah 60:1

For my new year’s resolution, I am putting myself on a social media diet.  I am socially media fat. I have something of a NOMO phobia.  That means “no mobile phobia.” What if I lost my cell phone? Would I still exist or, since no one could find me, would the proverbial bear in the woods need the flashlight on my cell phone?

Two authors are helping me understand how I got so hooked.  One is Paul Krugman from the New York Times. He argues that people have lost their “life narrative.”  If you had a life narrative, would you wake in the night and just “check” what came in?   Another comes from a book Trees on Mars: Our Obsession with the Future by Hal Niedzviecki.  He argues that our obsession with electronic contact comes out a deep fear that we might be left behind.  Hmm.  Am I afraid of being left behind?  Yup.  What if darkness will not be lifted by cell phones but by restoring the narrative?

Prayer

Slender and slim us from bondage to the social on behalf of finding our story in your story, O God.

ddauthordonnaschaper.jpgAbout the Author
Donna Schaper is Senior Minister at Judson Memorial Church in New York City. Her latest book is Approaching the End of Life: A Practical and Spiritual Guide.