I fasted YouTube for 2 months and it was interesting.
When I stayed away from all the internet for 3 days, life immediately was better. And more connected. It was surprising.
I’ve tried several times to stay away from Facebook but keep coming back. Am trying again as of this morning.
But staying away from YouTube, especially during the pandemic, it was the only time I felt I was missing something. I saw that I was missing all the beautiful Blessings songs that people made. Also the messages that people were preaching and teaching and putting online. I also missed some of the not so pleasant things like when YouTube banned David Wood for reciting the Christian persecution statistics from Open Doors.
The thing is though that I realize that YouTube is a really powerful source for good so far. Of course there is much bad and much censorship from YouTube against Christians, but at present, distance meant missing something.
So far of the social media platforms, it’s the only one that I can say that about. The others we would do better to pitch to the side. The hard thing is I sell things on Facebook Marketplace and have a travel page via Facebook. Twitter I never adopted nor Snapshat or any thing else.
The downside is now that I’m back on YouTube, I’m wasting a lot more time. I watch videos that are funny and fun as well as the videos that pertain to the social issues that seem to be unfolding every day.
I felt the Lord warned me the other day with Hebrews 12:1 – “throw off everything that hinders.” Watching endless videos, especially on current issues and events, can choke out our soul. It’s a warning for us all.
Armed with this knowledge, I want to try to completely stop Facebook with the exception of marketplace and a page I admin. New social media sites I don’t have a desire to learn. And YouTube, I want to retain it for it’s value but set limits.
Our souls are in jeopardy of being eclipsed by the cloudiness of social media.
