Digital Detox Round-up

The Gospel and Social Media
Some questions to ask about your social media presence in general:

1. Does my social media presence seem to concern itself more with God’s glory or my own?

2. Would the majority of things I post still be true if Jesus never went to the cross?

3. Overall, will my followers be more encouraged to revel in the gospel and treasure Jesus because of my social media usage? If not, what would their primary take away be?

4. Does my self-validation come from any aspect of social media usage?

5. What does my social media usage communicate about the Kingdom of God to any non-believers that follows me?

6. Do the words I use in this virtual society validate or discredit the gospel I proclaim in the actual society?

7. Does social media enhance or take away from my joy in Jesus?

Click through for more questions to ask before posting on social media.

Why It’s Terrible News That Millennials Are Having Less Sex
Pre-marital sex is dropping. That sounds like a good thing until we find out that it’s largely because pornography and social media are disincentivizing young people from pursuing real romantic relationships.

That Viral Houston Daycare Sign Is Right. Parents, Get Off Your Phones
Read the story behind this sign:

Why You Need Less Noise for Work and Your Health
This is perhaps the most important of all the articles on this list.

A study at the University of California, Irvine, found that knowledge workers have focus periods of just eleven minutes on average, in-between interruptions. As Campbell said, “if you need to focus, ‘work’ is pretty much the worst place you could be.”

This study not only looked at the detrimental impact of noise upon our brain and general health, it also found that silence grows brain cells!

Mute all the disruptions in your life with this noise-canceling device
And if this really works, I’m buying shares in it.

I Have Deleted Politics From My Digital Life
There’s a deluge of articles like this around the past couple of months. I think we’re close to a tipping point that will lead to a widespread re-evaluation of the role of social media in our lives.

For those of you who would also like to delete politics from your digital life, here’s what I did:

First, I unfollowed all major news organizations: ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, AP, the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Atlantic, Mashable, USAToday, Buzzfeed, Slate, The Daily Beast, and more.

Second, I unfollowed all of the politicians accounts I was following: @POTUS, @WhiteHouse, Sean Spicer, Ben Sasse, etc.

Then, I basically unfollowed anyone on Twitter that popped up in my timeline talking about politics more than anything else whether they are usually talking about that or not.

Finally, I unfollowed and muted a few friends who I really like, but simply couldn’t take the political bombardment of content from any longer.

I’ve only been at this for about a week, and my Twitter timeline and Facebook feed are glorious portals of informative, interesting content completely devoid of political ranting or unnecessary information.

It’s Time To Stop Living On The Internet
Another along similar lines.

Ask a trooper: Police survey, distracted driving ‘epidemic’
Read about Michigan police’s campaign against distracted driving:

The texting virus has now become an epidemic in the United States. It is rapidly transmitted by Smartphones into human brain tissues by touching the keyboard. Viral growth and load increases proportionally to number of texts sent and received. This equal opportunity virus attacks all ages, genders and races.

The texting virus is far more lethal than flu or Zika. Many of the afflicted die or are injured while driving a vehicle. That part of the brain associated with judgment is impaired and allows those individuals to believe they can safely drive and text simultaneously. The human brain needs to have a singular focus. Multitasking is highly overrated.