When I first signed up for Twitter, back in ye olden days, I went ahead and followed all the celebrities Twitter recommended for me. I assumed they knew better than I did (and honestly, I didn’t know who I should follow anyway) so I went ahead and accepted all their suggestions.
Y’all. I hated Twitter so much because of that. I didn’t care what some celebrity was eating for breakfast – back when people still tried to fit a real time update about their day into 140 characters with no links. So I unfollowed all of those people who were making my head ache (yep…you can do that) and started to follow people I actually wanted to get to know. People who were accessible enough to respond to a conversation. Other writers who inspired me. Blogs that I admired and wanted to learn from. When I stopped filling my social media feed with fame and started treating it a little more like a networking event, it made sense. And I loved it.
I admittedly follow more celebrities on Instagram now that I used to on Twitter. It’s the reason I love to pick up a copy of People or Entertainment Weekly when I have a layover at the airport – I like the visual insight into their lives, the more mundane and ordinary the better. I’m totally a lurker who never likes their photos or tries to race to be the first comment (y’all that is stupid. stop it right now. hard no.) Honestly I couldn’t even convince myself to do more than smile and make eye contact with Frank from American Pickers when he was on my flight this week. It’s not who I am.
And neither is this #goals hashtag business. Our goals in life should not be about coveting someone else’s abs, car, cup of coffee, group of friends, or lifestyle. Our goals should be to appreciate what God has given us, where we are. Social media doesn’t need to boss us around and tell us what we should have or what we should be doing or what we should be sharing. Invite your community – the one right in front of you – into your life. Make your goal to honor God with every post, every comment, every conversation. I promise you do not really want to have the unseen life of the celebrity you see highlights of on social media. And instead of wishing for platforms and platitudes and our own celebrity, let’s choose gratitude instead of #goals.
Love the message of this post. How does one self promote while not seeking platform? I’ve always felt Ick about announcing new posts, while people on my Twitter will post several times a day links to their new posts. It always feels to me that they are screaming “look at me” when I’m sure it’s more of, “I have this message God has laid on my heart and maybe it would help you”