Generations of Facebook and Blogging

I listened to a little blip on K-Love today touting today’s teens as anxious, stressed, and self-centered. Seemingly this generation has more depression and anxiety issues than those of the past. We have indeed created an environment where it is all about me. We even have things like blogs, HA, and facebook, HAHA, that are pages dedicated completely to us (I laugh because I obviously have both of these)! When you look back at the generations before us, we never had a place just about us that was visible worldwide should we choose for it to be.

And although many of us would choose to post things on our blogs and facebook pages that we hope in some way will help others, and will help us connect to others, we cannot help but be affected by the fact that our thoughts can so easily be posted, visibly, to hundreds upon thousands of other people. We can’t help but hold our thoughts and ourselves as a little more important than they might have been had they not been “liked” or “commented” on by others.

The danger comes in when we start to base our self worth outside of who we are in Christ. Perhaps that is the difficulty facing this generation. When internal thoughts are posted so visibly and subjected to instantaneous feedback, it is very easy to begin to crave that feedback rather than living on the bread and water of life, Christ.

As blogging and writing becomes more and more of my identity, I am beginning to feel the pressure that having a life filled with social networking can put. I can’t deny that I like the feedback I get from a blog post or a wall post, and dare I say it, yes I will, sometimes I post things out of a selfish need for feedback on my writing rather than communicating what God would have to speak through me for that day. Sigh.

There is no easy path on the road to freedom. Once we are freed up from one area of bondage God seems to enlighten me towards another. Let me speak through you, hold your tongue on that, don’t post that yet I have something else to tell you He says, and sometimes I listen and sometimes I don’t. And I am praying that I will desire His approval alone, and stop craving the approval of man. However, how much harder must it be for teens? Raised in an environment where it’s all about me, that’s a scary place to be. Let’s pray today for all of us, that He is our bread and our water, and that the only thing we would crave would be more of HIM!!!!