Where Did You Go?

​Some months ago, I had decided to finally leave social media for good. I had gotten it in my head that social media was nothing more than a disease and I should just leave it alone. I had also stopped live streaming video games, as I wasn’t gaining any traction anymore, and my viewer numbers were next to nothing. I deleted my Twitter (or X, if you will), deleted my Instagram, and just went radio silent on Facebook. I then wrote a manifesto opposing social media and posted it nowhere. Seriously, it is sitting in a .txt file on my desktop, just staring at me, wondering when it will be published. I said goodbye to engaging with people on the Internet and began to metaphorically walk the earth like Caine in the television series Kung-Fu.

In my time away I read the Bible more, fellowshipped with members of the church, and watched movies and TV without anyone’s review influencing how I’m supposed to feel about what I was watching. I cleared my head not having to look at all that junk on the Internet. It was all very wonderful. I could actually focus and pay attention to things, and not feel the urge to glance at Twitter every few minutes. In a way it made things I enjoy more enjoyable. 

It was at this point I was asked to join the church’s media ministry. If you’re not familiar with media ministry, it’s basically the audio/visual team of a church. Of course, I’m more used to the old school way a church is run, hymn books, an organ, a choir, and a stationary, yet passionate pastor preaching from the pulpit. Modern churches for the most part are not run this way anymore. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes; There are visual slides so the congregation can follow along, background music, microphones, lighting, making sure everyone’s audio sounds good, and a camera person capturing it all. That’s where the team comes in. 
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There were talks of gaining more visibility, especially online. There are cool things in the works that I can’t talk about yet, but they are going to happen in the near future. All of this made me come to the realization that I/we need to maintain a presence online. This has all led me to return to social media, including this blog. I want to share the Gospel by using these online tools at everyone’s disposal. All it takes is just a spark to ignite us. Maybe someone sees something I’ve posted and that becomes the spark they need. When I was first asking questions about God and the Bible, one of the places I went to was the YouTube of Pastor Mike Winger. His long form videos are great on their own, but what I truly find helpful are his “Ask Pastor Mike” videos where he takes questions from the chat and answers them. 

iStock Photo

How can I avoid the junk if that’s all that is out there? Well, to be frank, and I know this is going to be a simplified answer, you can stop looking at the junk. For example, back when I was at my most active on Instagram, I would reach the end of my feed and the Metaverse algorithm would throw various types of videos at me to see if I would bite. I made the mistake of watching a cute cat video. That’s when Meta realized they had their hooks on me. “Oh, you like cat videos? Well, here are more cat videos! Endless cat videos!” As a result, I was stuck in an endless loop of cat videos. The same could be said for 80’s wrestling videos, baseball videos, and General Ock videos (Can’t forget the bev… neva, neva, neva!”). How do you fight this? Well, when you reach the end of your feed, just stop. Put the phone down and stop.
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I also removed most notifications from my phone. The only thing I truly kept were texts from friends and family, grocery store delivery notifications, and ride share notifications. Science has determined that we get a dopamine rush whenever we get one of these coveted social media notifications. That is part of what keeps us glued to our phones. No, thank you. I know it is hard to break the habit, but I believe you can do it. 

Don’t follow things you know will tempt you. You know what I mean. It can be anything from pretty ladies, musicians you like, things associated with violent video games, and anything having to do with the occult. I was hooked on occult things for a while. I know it’s a very interesting arena, but it leads down a path to darkness. I will expound more on this in the future. 
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Where things go from here is anyone’s guess. This blog could take off, but it could also stagnate like the chess blog I kept in 2004. I could gain 1,000 followers on Instagram and X, or I could be stuck reaching out to three people who are probably bot accounts. Only God knows. The point is you will see me around on these social media streets more often for a while. 

Links to my accounts will be on the Contact page on this website.