My Social Media Journey

 I have taken quite the minimalistic approach to social media.

For years I resisted ever becoming a part of it in the first place.

I just didn't think it'd be for me.

By the time I created a Facebook account for myself, everyone I knew had already been in Facebook Land for ten years!

I also started this blog around the same time.

I viewed it as sort of a scrapbook, or creative writing outlet.

I loved it because my favorite part of school when I was a child was a portion of our Language Arts hour called, Writer's Workshop. We all had a special notebook just for it, and were allowed to sit and write anything we wanted. It was wonderful! I would write my heart out during those times. Any flowery poem or wild story plot that would enter my mind, Writer's Workshop gave me the quiet, creative space for it to bubble to the surface and flow out onto paper. By the time I was done there'd be a complex character I had proudly created, or moody setting in some foreign, far off land I had intricately described. 

I found it very satisfying.

I still find writing satisfying.

There's a verse in the New Testament that says, "We write this to make our joy complete."

That's how writers feel!

But even though I loved writing on this blog, my hunch about Facebook was becoming true.

I like to be private, so it would make me nervous to see friend requests, questions, and comments from people I barely knew.

I would get hundreds of page views on every blog post I published. And whenever someone "shared" a post, it would open me up to even more strangers! Knowing how hostile the world can be towards people with conservative views, it all would make me very uneasy. 

I just didn't want to draw a lot of attention to myself.

Not to mention, there seemed to be a lot of "brand building" going on. Well, since I'm an absolute nobody, this idea of trying to become a somebody was completely lost on me.

So sure enough, it didn't take long for me to conclude what I already knew was true.... Facebook wasn't for me.

I decided to deactivate my Facebook account.

I went happily on my way like this for over a year and a half!

I never missed it!

I still wrote on this blog though, and noticed my page views absolutely plummeted.

But since I was never in it for "likes" or followers in the first place, that never bothered me.

It actually is of very little concern to me whatsoever if anyone reads my blog.

I've always done it just for the fun of it, and also "for the record," as they say.

So I continued writing to the twenty or thirty people that were still checking in on my blog.

I've always been a quality over quantity person anyway.

And that's when I got an idea...

Why can't I reinstate my Facebook account but keep my numbers down and make it work for me?

Why did I think before that to be a part of Facebook meant I had to go along with their program and do it the way everyone else was doing it?

Why can't I use it on my terms and tweak it to fit my program?

(For some reason I have always been of the school of thought that if everyone is doing something, there must be something wrong with it!)

So, I went back on with these goals in mind:

I would no longer get yanked around, I would make Facebook accommodate me and my vision.

 I would get control of my friend's list by taking it down to one hundred.

I would unfollow anyone who didn't inspire me or share my values.

I would only post that which would cast a positive light on homeschooling and homemaking.

With that being said, I do have several "friends" on Facebook who hold to different political and religious views from me. But they are not obnoxious about it. Plus, I figure I can be an example to them. I don't mean that in an arrogant way, but in a "light of the world" way. (Matt. 5:14)

Add in the few home decorating and homeschooling groups that I am a part of, and Facebook has become a very mellow and peaceful pastime for me.

I've never had Pinterest, Twitter, or Instagram. 

Facebook and this blog are all the social media I care to manage. 

Once you learn how to make it work for you, you can manage and enjoy it comfortably.

💐

~ Courtney