Social Media and Loneliness Desensitization

I signed up for Instagram today, mainly to keep contact with the younger people I've met here in Fort Wayne, as it seems like the younger generation uses Instagram more than any other social media. I started the day with posting a funny status about Instagram (see below) which accumulated likes and comments throughout the morning. It was fun interacting with people on Facebook and my newly created Instagram account, and an expectation of a notification every time I checked my phone built in my heart.



Fast forward to 9 PM. I've been exercising in the gym and watching the Colts-Titans game, all the while updating my Twitter, Facebook, and checking Instagram and the Reddit game thread. It's not unusual for me to update my Twitter/Facebook a lot during games, but for some reason, finally today the thought crossed my mind, "I wish I actually had someone to talk to instead of just posting it for the world to see."

The combination of the narcissistic pleasure of broadcasting my opinions, the tickling of my ego of notifications, and the reality of living alone for the last two years led to a desensitization of loneliness, keeping me from realizing the emptiness of posting stuff on the interwebs apart from real relationships. The magic of social media kept me feeling connected, which has been a lifeline in my life and I'm extremely grateful for, but it also masked the reality of the lack of friendship in my life. No amount of upvotes, likes, or those instagram heart thingys can substitute actually watching a game with friends I love. Sure, one-liners often don't sound as awesome in person as they do written in 160 characters, but life isn't all about getting e-props and followers.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that I feel the need to be with people all the time or that social media is bad in any way. I get that I won't have 24/7 companions until I'm married and that much of my experience is just the typical post-college single life, but I guess what I'm saying is that it can be easy to get lost in the excitement and shallow approval of our public personas in social networks and neglect real relationships, which are more complicated and energy-draining but rewarding. It's surprisingly easy to forget to develop our friendships in the grind of real life, as accountability, discipleship, and confession of sins are a lot more difficult than posting quick fun statuses, witty comments, and selfies.

That all said, follow me on Instagram at @fobbymaster. You won't regret it.

Sorry this awful post sucked. I'll try harder next time.