#tech
#social-media
Social Media Makes You Hate Everyone
“I just posted something benign on social media and now have a ton of people saying I’m a genocidal monster!
If you’ve been accused of genocide for saying putting anchovies on pizza should be a crime or that boys cannot become girls, this video is for you. Laugh at the stupidity of it and recognize that everyone is collectively going through this stupidity, not just you.
Fewer Words
Fewer words and more intentional questions go a long way in conversations and debates.
In both, conversations and debates, your intent should be to understand one another.
In a conversation, you want to understand one another so that you are not in disagreement and you get closer.
In a debate, you want to understand one another so that you can find what you disagree on and lay a persuasive argument.
All too often I see online debates and conversations starting with assumptions and arguing from there. Often wordy, long-winded, hard-to-follow exaltations. Sometimes the assumptions are right, but usually, they are simply strawmen. An assumed position for your opponent.
The foundation of debate is the definition of terms. Without an agreed-on definition, one can— and often does— disagree semantically and think they are disagreeing on the topic.
So my recommendation: Use fewer words and ask more intentional questions. Understand one another first. You cannot disagree with what you don’t understand.
Resisting Impulse
I just resisted posting something to Facebook. And then almost tweeted about resisting posting it to Facebook. It was after the third or fourth sentence, after the second rewrite, that I realized that it was better for my blog than Facebook.
Impulse drives us to post the moment something comes to our mind. Take the extra time to sit on something. The world doesn’t need your commentary immediately. Your snark and sarcasm can wait, even if you don’t catch the trending #hashtag. Be more thoughtful. Slow to speak, slow to anger.
Provocative
However, the phrase has taken on a different sentiment as it is often worn by anti-Muslim protesters as a badge of honor during rallies and is seen by some as a provocation.
Only Liberals could hail as art and brave a “painting” of Mary made of cow dung and pornagraphic images in one breath and scold those taunting jihadists— that are throwing gays off rooftops and selling young girls as sex slaves in ISIS— for being provocative in the next.
The reality is that this is no more provocative than the Coptics in Egypt tattooing crosses on their wrists or any Christian wearing a cross around their neck. It is a statement to the world that we are not afraid of death because Christ defeated it.
Those that love free speech stand by free speech. Those that you claim this hat tries to provoke are tired of a group of people using death threats— and killings, rapes, and more— to shut up the opposition. They are bravely facing down an enemy that is fearlessly tearing through the Middle East and you pansies are too afraid of offending anyone to speak the truth. It’s why I love George Orwell more and more.
In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
Instagram Introduces Photo Sets… For Businesses
It’s a shame this feature is rolling out first to brands, because photo sets like these would likely be a hit with average users. They’re hugely popular on Tumblr, generated automatically by Facebook’s News Feed, and have more recently been adopted by Twitter. And users are already hacking photo sets onto Instagram using third-party apps that group multiple photos into a single image.
That is a shame. I don’t know about other users, but I always feel bad when I rapid fire a few shots off on Instagram. My typical setup is that I shoot in Camera+ or Apple’s Camera app, edit in Camera+ sometime later, and then post to Instagram. This happened a few weeks back when we took Charlotte, my daughter, to the Shedd Aquarium. I’m not the type to stand there and post to Instagram while my family waits to move on to the next exhibit. No, I shoot a few dozen shots and then edit while my wife is in the bathroom or as we are walking to the car. To be able to post 4 shots as a set would be delightful without bombarding my followers.
Facebook Obsession
Is Facebook stifling your prayer life? Great article from Desiring God.
For creatures like us, created to adore glory, we must find an object worthy of our worship. The cure for boredom is not diversion or distraction, but substantive enthrallment, says John Piper. We must encounter God, “to be intellectually and emotionally staggered by the infinite, everlasting, unchanging supremacy of Christ in all things.”
Which means that trying to silence our boredom with the compulsive habit of pulling the lever on the slot machine called Facebook is a habit that can be broken. But that will only happen if our compelling vision of God is grand enough to see him as beautiful and “infinitely creative,” so creative, that for those who worship him, Piper says, “there will be no boredom for the next trillion ages of millenniums.”