Social media is such a debated topic. Some people are strictly against it, they see it as a time waster, a way to compare yourselves to so many people, a way to pretend and hide behind the computer making your life seem more glamorous then it really is. Some people find it tearing them down every time they log on, discouraging them and causing them to feel like their life will never measure up. All of this I can see to be true. I have witnessed it to be true as I scroll through my news feed, and I have even experienced some similar feelings rise up inside of me at times.

But when it comes down to it, I love social media.

Now, I don’t love it because I am an outgoing, extremely extroverted person who enjoys sharing every little detail of my life in hopes that someone might care. Though, I definitely am an extreme extrovert. I love social media because I view it as one of the greatest tools that has been placed in my hands.

So today, I wanted to take an entirely different approach to the way social media is viewed by so many, and tell you just why I love it.

1. It keeps me connected. I have moved an extreme amount of times in my little life. I grew up in a military family, as well as a split family. I bounced between my mom and my dad, as well as state to state as the military moved my mom and step-dad. I have friends in every place I have ever lived. People who were a huge part of watching me grow. People who were heavily involved in keeping my family from falling apart. People who were my friends through some of the hardest things I ever went through. Even though I don’t pick up the phone and call these people once a week, they love watching my life play out on social media. They have watched me graduate high school, get engaged, get married, have children, and even more. Social media has offered a way for us to stay connected. For me to see what is happening in their lives, and for them to feel like they are still a part of mine. I have been able to reach out to old friends and encourage them through the different seasons in their life. My parents live almost a thousand miles away, so they don’t get to be a part of watching my son grow up. Through Facebook they have been a part of so many milestones they otherwise would have missed out on. I love feeling like I have friends all over the place who can still be a little part of my world.

2. Through social media I can bring people into my world. I can show them what it’s like to be married young, what it’s like to have children young, what it’s like to be a stay at home mom, what it’s like to be in ministry. I can let my life speak in ways that words never can and never will. I can sit with a friend over coffee or on the phone saying the same thing over and over, but there is no measure to the value it holds when they see me actually living what I can so easily talk to them about. I know this is where it can get a little messy. Sometimes people can hold back showing the greatest parts about their life, and leave out the messy. I can’t tell them to be real and not hide, but I can control what I do. I can share the beautiful and the messy. I can bring you into my world and make it feel like we are sitting over coffee getting to know each other, because maybe I can’t do that in real life. I love finding people online who share what’s real in their world with me. I feel like I know them. I feel like we are the best of friends. And mostly, in these lonely days of raising young children, I feel like I’m not alone.

3. It’s my greatest witness. I don’t block people (unless they are deliberately crossing boundaries, for example, men trying to message me or a person constantly tearing me down). When there is inappropriate content on Facebook being shared by a person that I am friends with, I use that cool feature that removes them from my feed. They can still see my posts, but I can’t see theirs. Why would I want them seeing my posts? Because maybe my posts will speak to them at just the right time. I cannot tell you how many people, who I have removed from my feed, who will randomly message me asking about Christ, or my marriage, or what I have learned about being a mother. There are desperate, hurting, and lost people out there. They have plenty of junk in their feeds, I want to give them the opportunity to see something life giving. Something that speaks to them and says they’re not alone. I can protect myself, my eyes, and my spirit by removing them from my feed and they never have to know. I am a 100% believer in using the block button when it becomes a danger to you. I have had people in my life turn around and constantly tear me down, and that’s when I remove them from speaking into my life. I believe there is a time for that to be used, but I also believe there is an opportunity for witness and not getting rid of everyone you went to high school with just because their language might be dirty, or their pictures show a little too much cleavage.

4. It offers community. There is an important balance to be kept on this one. Social media offers so much community, and it’s wonderful. These lonely days of motherhood, where I need to be home for naps and make sure bedtime happens on time, it can be really hard not to feel alone. Social media gives me a chance to feel like I am still connected to the world outside. I can still be a part of my friend’s lives, I can see what it’s like as we raise kids and take care of a home together. I can ask for prayer. I can ask for encouragement. I can ask for someone to listen. But it is incredibly important to remember it doesn’t replace real life community. Community is offered in one form through social media, but there is something entirely different about the form of community felt face to face. I believe both can be incredibly beneficial. And face to face community is needed.

I love social media and everything it has to offer us. Yes, there needs to be a balance. Yes, there needs to be community outside of it. Yes, we need to be real with what we share. Yes to all those things that cause social media to be a debated topic. BUT it isn’t all bad. We are so quick to shut it down because of the bad it can bring, but what about all the good it can bring? I love social media because it gives me so many opportunities in addition to everything else at my fingertips. Social media is just another of many tools in this world that needs to be used the right way. I don’t think it should be given up on just yet, there is just too much potential we are missing out on.