What Are You Sharing?

A few years back I was part of the hiring team for an agency.  The hiring process took several months and the training courses were almost a year long, so we wanted to make sure we selected the proper people.  To accomplish this, we went through a strenuous interviewing and backgrounding process which included visiting a candidate’s social media sites.  Even though this was early on in the social media craze we found that what people posted online said a lot about their personalities and personal integrity.  In the half dozen or so years since my employment screening days, the presence of social media (or maybe it should be called “personal media”) has exploded.  Just about everyone I know has a Facebook page and many have various other accounts – Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, etc.  While this form of communication has developed a lot in a short period of time one thing remains the same – it still speaks volumes about our personality and integrity.
In an effort to promote the positive use of these online tools, let’s identify two key components to social media and review some of their traps:
Posts – The most obvious and telling aspect about our use of social media is what we say and how we say it.  Interestingly, it doesn’t even have to be something we personally write because when we share a thought (or even when we “like” something) we give it our hearty approval.  Our online opinions can promote good will or can promote hate and dissension – we get to choose.  Before we post anything let’s analyze it for two key elements:  topic and tone.  Should what we are about to post be discussed in public and, if so, what is the most productive way to relate it?  
Images – The images we display say a lot about what is important to us.  A provocative glamor photo, computer generated images that contain inappropriate language or advertisements, even pictures of us in unchristian settings or situations speak volumes about us.  There are good, uplifting images that can and should be displayed – let’s just make sure that the images we exhibit correspond to the image we want to project.  A good rule of thumb might be – if you wouldn’t want your momma or your preacher to see it, don’t display it.
Christians have a responsibility to maintain a good reputation in every aspect of our lives.  What do our social media accounts say about our spiritual lives?  Let’s remember Peter’s warning to the early church, “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.” (I Peter 2:12).  People are following us – some are genuinely interested in what we are doing, but others merely hope to catch us violating our professed principles.  Let’s be wise (and spiritual) in what we put on display for the world to see.

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