I am a social media professional. I am also a Christian. Every year I try to do something meaningful for Lent. Maybe it’s some intentional reflection, or giving up something that plays a big role in my life. The hope and intent is that giving something up brings you closer to God. This year, as both social media experiment and spiritual endeavor, I thought it would be interesting to give up Twitter for 40 long days (closer to 46 or so when you include Sundays).

Now, a lot of people give up some form of social media for Lent. It’s also not an integral part of their career, however. I obviously had to establish that I would in fact continue tweeting for clients, just not myself. I realized a few things during my time without Twitter that I’d like to share. Some might be deep, most probably aren’t, but they are reflections nonetheless.

• Most people didn’t even notice. I got a couple people saying they missed my tweets, but the majority of people I spoke with were surprised to hear that I took Twitter off – even when I told them a month into my experiment. They obviously weren’t missing much in their world without my tweets.
• I did feel less informed. I had to intentionally seek out news versus just let it come to me in a 140-character stream. People would ask “Did you see ____”, and whereas before I could usually answer “Yes” – I had to say “No” quite a few times and feel a little left out.
• The above didn’t actually impact what I knew. What I mean by that, is that ultimately I was informed. It just happened to be through other outlets (Facebook, “real” conversations, etc), and it just happened to be approximately 10-30 minutes later than I normally would have been informed.
• The things I missed out on were mostly superfluous. Yes, I’m probably a little more knowledgeable of things when I’m on Twitter. I read more random links. But these aren’t things that necessarily make me a better human. Most the time, actually, I’m being distracted from my job and getting something done.
• Social networks themselves are neutral mediums. Especially in 2012, we’re seeing people start to discuss the perils of social networking and digital communities. We also see folks ringing their praises as the greatest thing since sliced bread. The platforms themselves, however, are neither. It what’s we do with them that makes them good/bad. Are you seeing your relationships go bad because of social networks? Take some time off. Are you seeing your relationships enhanced because of social networks? Keep doing what you’re doing. To make blanket statements about social media, however, is as foolish as making blanket statements about things like cars or microwaves. You can do good and bad things with both of them, the choice is yours.
• Having said that, my relationships were in fact enhanced by taking some time off. I realized that I could communicate with people through personal and more intimate emails (intimate as in revealing more details about life, not the other kind of intimate) or phone calls. My relationships weren’t so much surface level. I spent more time talking with my wife in our back yard than sitting on our couch with iPads. It was refreshing, to say the least.
• I’m excited to be back. Because of the fact that I took some time off to reflect on how social media impacts my life, I feel more confident that I can use it smartly versus just doing it because it’s my job and it’s in front of me. I really have cultivated a small community on Twitter and I enjoy the conversation that happens.

All I ask is that you reflect a little and think intentionally about how you use social media in your own life, and the kind of impact (whether subtle or not) it has on your daily interactions with people.

Jeremy Anderberg

Jeremy is a blog-reading, report-writing project manager. In his spare time he enjoys reading a good thriller, drinking a freshly brewed cup of coffee, and spending time with his wife.

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