UNLIKE, UNSHARE, UNFOLLOW: Abstaining from Social Media this Lent

It has been about a week already since we celebrated Ash Wednesday. The occasion marked the start of the Lenten season, when everyone is advised to do fasting and abstinence. Most of us would be observing a no-meat diet, while others will be delivering a different kind of sacrifice.

A sacrifice that you can do this Lent is abstaining from the use of social media. Have you ever asked yourself what would life be like without your social media accounts?

Some people are capable of doing it, while others are too dependent on social media that it has become a part of their everyday living. A lot of us get private and public information on social networks, but are all these information really necessary? As our current Church head have said during his Papal visit in the Philippines,

We have so much information but maybe we don’t know what to do with that information. So we run the risk of becoming museums of young people who have everything but not knowing what to do with it. We don’t need young museums but we do need holy young people.

With that being said, taking a step back from the crazy world of social media is a necessary thing to do every once in a while. This Lenten season would be the perfect opportunity to do it.

Here are three points that I’ve come up with regarding social media abstinence.

UNLIKE

Netizens just love on giving like reactions to posts that they can relate to, or to those that they have a liking for. This lent, refrain from virtually liking things; start appreciating what’s in front of you.

UNSHARE

Take a look at your environment while commuting, or even while eating. You’ll notice that most people are on their phones, usually connected on their Facebook accounts via free mobile data. Now is the time to temporarily stop showing off and sharing updates about your recent luxuries — use this opportunity to communicate and start sharing with God.

UNFOLLOW

Who are you following, and who are your followers? The accounts that you follow provide and feed you varied amount of information. Upon taking a social media abstinence, remember to follow the teachings of the Good News. It is also a necessary act to follow back to the ways of the Church .

Taking a total break from social media is good, but if you really can’t then maybe focusing on just one or two social networking sites will do. Try not to open your Facebook on some days, or temporarily be off on Instagram for the whole of Lent. Take a step back, and I hope you appreciate cutting ties with your virtual world for a while.