That's It, I'm Done!

Are you one of those who is about to get off social media sites completely? I too, for a while, felt like I was going to close my Facebook account and just stick with Twitter or nothing at all. Now, I’ve found a new way to use social media sites towards my advantage, which has made it a much more pleasant experience.

Facebook has always been the social media site that I used most. I was getting to a point of frustration, because I had the “look at me” mentality and when I wasn’t being looked at, I was getting upset. Since my reversion (and you will see me mention that in quite a few of my posts) I learned how to use Facebook in a completely different way. I use it for evangelizing now and for promoting my website http://www.wildwestcatholic.com as well as the social media pages associated with it. I still use it for personal use as well, just not as much. Here are some steps I took to manage my Facebook page and I’m sure they will work for any other social media sites.

1. First ask yourself “Why am I on here?” It’s a simple question to ask and yet a hard one to answer when you stop and think about it. For some it may be the marketing of a product or page. For others it may be for family or for staying in touch with friends. Once you’ve figured why you are on whatever social media sites you use, it will help you in deciding what steps need to be taken to make your social media experience more suited to you. Prior to my reversion I was a man of the world and was more interested in worldly things. Since then I decided that the main reason I was on Facebook as well as the other social media sites, was to evangelize to others about Jesus Christ and to do my part in the New Evangelization.
2. If you are tired of seeing so much negative news on your homepage, consider the source and get rid of it. I for one kept getting sick and tired of the way secular news was reporting the “news” so I decided to unlike their pages. The same goes for any pages that you feel may be bringing on negative emotions. Replace them with more productive and positive pages.Once again, prior to my reversion most of my pages had to do with the worldly things that were keeping me away from Christ. I looked them over and decided which ones I would keep that would not tempt me to go back to living that worldly life and replaced them with Catholic pages that help me with my evangelization.
3. Are there certain people that just shouldn’t be on your page? This step can be a hard one, weeding out those who don’t belong. Be strong, it can be done. There are those who just hang around and don’t post, those who post negative stuff all the time, those who post pornographic or suggestive material and those who just flat out get on your nerves! Getting rid of people you hardly know, that’s easy. Getting rid of people who are close to you or even family members, can be tough. In the end, you have to do what makes you happy and your social media experience more productive or pleasant. At its highest point I probably had around 250 friends on Facebook. I now have 95 and don’t expect that I will ever get past 150 again. I’m very selective of who I friend or whose friend request I accept. I had to get rid of those that were bringing me and my evangelizing work down, which also included some family members.

There is so much that one can do to bring Christ to those who don’t know him via social media sites and there are so many Catholic websites and pages that can help you along the way. They are great tools for the New Evangelization in the 21st century. I hope that some of the ideas that I shared above can turn an unpleasant social media experience into a positive and productive experience. Matthew 28:19-20 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.