Saturday, August 23, 2014

#138 He Doesn't Instagram

I'm going to point it out right away, this post is going to be full of hypocrisy.  I have an Instagram account and I love it.  I love the filters that perfect and hipster-up almost any picture I choose to post.  I love seeing other people's pictures of family, food, travels, and happiness.

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But I have to stand on my soap box for a moment.  As much as I love the leaps and bounds technology has made--I mean, I've actually lived long enough to be able to say, "They didn't have THAT when I was growing up"--I feel like we have lost our morals when it comes to what I call 'Instagram-less moments".

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The addiction that social media creates for us to post every inch of our lives, I feel, has caused us to forget that certain intimate moments in our lives should not be shared with others.  Not because the material is of an inappropriate, cover-your-eyes-and-don't-look quality, but simply because they are Instagram-less moments.  They are moments that the minute you post them on social media, you lessen their value just a hair.

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What did we do, after all, ten years ago when all this nonsense was not in existence?  What did we do when we actually were forced to enjoy a moment organically--without pulling out our phones to document it?  How did we survive not being able to instantly tell the world, "Look!  I did this!"?

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I do it too, that's why I have already placed the disclaimer that this is a hypocritical post.  But I challenge you, as I challenge myself continually to consider deeply the purpose of each and every picture you expose to the world.  Allow yourself the permission to keep some of your Instagram-less moments between you, your camera, and those connected emotionally to that picture.

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