Return to Social Media

After being offline for one day shy of 3 weeks, I returned to social media today. 3 weeks ago, I actually wrote about why I was taking a break and the possibility of my never returning. I never published my thoughts on it, though. I still have it saved and have read it over a few times since. It’s a good reminder that feelings do not always tell us the truth and that they are impacted by so many things. My decisions need to be based on the facts and not feelings. Feeling do play a role. They can be an indication that something isn’t quite right. But perhaps they should only be used as warning signs and not definitive direction for the decision making process. Listen to the feelings, act upon the facts. When a feeling leads to a fact, then act…hehehe I’m not sure I’m making myself clear on that point. But that’s okay.

One fact I hold on to is that I have some really good friends that I would not have otherwise met if it weren’t for social media. And they have recently reminded me of the role I’ve played in their lives. They have made me feel seen for who and what I truly am. I play an important part in this world by being who I am in it. Social media is definitely a piece of that world. The energy I bring to the various timelines people scroll through is something this world needs more of. And if I were to take away my piece of that, I’d be taking away God’s ability to use me in that way to bless others. Rather than leaving, I should be praying for the strength to endure the reasons I want to leave that part of the world behind.

Yesterday was a very important day in my life. And social media is how God made it happen. May 20th is the anniversary of when my friendship with Chérie went offline for the first time. Although we haven’t physically met in person just yet, it was the day she reached out to me through a direct text to my personal phone from hers. I won’t go into any details about why we haven’t spent any time in person yet, but our friendship is pure and true in every other way. We write letters, have a bi-weekly video call, and we communicate over text everyday. And as of a few months ago, we are engaged in a daily devotional routine that has brought both of us closer to God; and therefore closer to each other. As our personal journeys with God have evolved, our friendship has as well. We originally became Twitter mutuals a few years ago. Something she posted caught my attention. We became mutuals. Something I posted caught her attention. The rest of our history together is His Story. We have nurtured and watered our friendship, but God has made it grow. Like wildflowers in Spring, it has blossomed into something incredibly beautiful.

Chérie said something to me yesterday as we celebrated the day together that resonated well with me. I won’t quote it as it was a private conversation. But the lesson I take from it and apply to myself is imagine if I didn’t post the things I do? I and others would miss out on everything that results from it. No, not everything I say is pure gold…LOL But there is always something that someone out there needs to hear in that moment. Even if I never see the results, someone out there needs the blessings God can bring from it. When I’m afraid, sad, hurt, or frustrated by social media and stop posting, the blessings that come from it will end. That is far worse than anything I personally experience. So, I am back with a post that comes straight out of Proverbs 12:25…

Proverbs 12:25 AMP

Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, But a good (encouraging) word makes it glad. [Ps 50:4; Prov 15:13]

I’m an encourager. An anxious one at that…LOL It felt very fitting that this verse was in my devotional time from today. So, it became today’s Vitamin G…

Anxiety weighs on the heart, but an encouraging word makes it glad. Take a deep breath and pay attention to what's weighing on your heart today. Breathing deeply releases the mind juices needed to counter the anxiety ❤️ We’ve got this 🙌 Have a terrific day ✌️😎

I don’t want to deny the world the many blessings God will provide through such a post. I want to make myself available to Him to send His message of faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these, is Love. God loves me. God loves the world. I want Him to love the world through me if it is His Will. If He Wills that I stop posting, then and only then will I stop.

That said, not everything I post is God inspired. I still post personal stuff…hehehe I’m actually leaning into diversifying my social media presence. The Vitamin G will continue to be cross posted. However, some of the content will be exclusive to specific platforms. That will mean those who do not follow me on all platforms I’m engaged on will miss out on some of my content. That’s okay. Those kinds of posts are going out there for myself anyway. For example, I posted something on Threads today that I didn’t post anywhere else. It was something I had been thinking about for over a week and I wanted to get it out of my head. I wanted to posted it on social media as opposed to simply writing it out here in my journal. I also made an IG Stories post to give that feature a try again. I had a rough start with that feature. Perhaps I was in the wrong headspace at the time. But I wanted to give it another chance while I was in a great headspace. I felt it came out perfect. Ooh, I just noticed that IG cross posted that story on FB. I need to keep that in mind or pay more attention to what settings I have before I submit…hehehe Fortunately, the story was appropriate for my FB audience…LOL And tonight, I’ve posted exclusively on Twitter about the meal I made last night as part of a Twitter foodie group I’m in.

Something else I decided to do, at least temporarily, is make my socials private. On IG and Threads, I took it further and started removing followers I do not follow myself. I need to further purge by going through people I follow that I shouldn’t. That really isn’t possible on Twitter, though. Twitter doesn’t have a remove follower option. All I can do is block them. I might be able to block them and immediately unblock to see if that removes them as a follower? But that’ll be a lot of work. I have thousands on that platform…LOL I may go back to public eventually. On Twitter, I already needed to go back to public so people could repost…hehehe I had thought perhaps I can extract my Vitamin G into its own persona and make that public and have a team that manages my encouraging, inspiring, and motivating posts and the resulting engagement. However, that isn’t who I am. One of the many things people tell me they are attracted to is how genuine I am. I never want to lose that part of my character. I want to be the same person for a million followers as I am for just 1. Yes, I used hyperbole…hehehe But you get my point. I am who I am and I never want that to change. As I evolve as a person, my character should always be genuine.

I’m glad to be back on social media. I didn’t miss it in general. But I did miss the people. Some of the people in my life are only accessible through their social media. I suppose I would call most of those folks acquaintances. When an online acquaintance becomes an offline contact, they have the potential to become a friend. But they can also be a friend if offline never happens. For some, being online contacts is a way to feel safe yet still be connected. I definitely respect that. I’ve been in seasons of my life where my social anxiety left me feeling as though I only wanted to be present online and not offline with people. I considered Chérie a friend before she texted me a year ago. She reached out to me on IG months before our friendship went offline. When a relationship like ours evolves the way it did, it feels safe regardless how the communication works. I am grateful we are offline now, though.

Another friendship I value that began on social media is with Tyrese. Similar to Chérie, we talk almost daily. It isn’t quite as often. But we are close friends. She and I also became offline friends, chatting directly through text messaging and the occasional FaceTime. Sometimes our text conversations are simply gifs from movies. Basically, we speak movie like it’s a language…hehehe We plan to visit in person soon too.

Ooh, I forgot to mention, Chérie and I are starting to plan visits. Visiting my friends often will, Lord Willing, become a part of my routine. I do not vacation in the traditional sense anymore. I haven’t done that in about 3 years. And even before then, I wouldn’t say that I vacationed when I went on vacation. I would often work while on trips or do long weekends instead of taking a week off. So, I’d say I haven’t had a real vacation since 2018. I did take some time off last year to spend with family. But it was here…local…I was entertaining guests…LOL Not a vacation…LOL

Which brings me back to my part of the social media world. If it wasn’t part of my world, I would not have friends to go visit. And as it seems to be going locally lately, I would end up not having any friends. As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t have any family or friends who live near me. It takes planning to hangout with anyone I currently see in person. That’s no different than me planning visits to friends in other parts of the country. The only real difference is a plane ride…

I’m okay with all of this, though. I just need to pray that God gives me strength to face the problems I’ve dealt with on social media. I’ll plan visits with all my friends as needed. Those who live out of state, I’ll happily go to them. I don’t have any responsibilities here that require my physical presence constantly. So I can travel with ease. And I’ll happily meet any of my local friends where they are. If I want to have friends, I need to be a friend. I’m grateful for all of them.

Beyond that, I’ll continue being a genuine person on social media just as I am in person. I’ll take breaks when I need to. And I’ll post what I feel inspired to post. I’ve never forced myself to post. Everything I post is exactly what I wanted to in the moment. And I’ll engage with others as I feel. When I can encourage someone, I will. When someone asks for advice, I’ll help if I’m able. There is no formula or algorithm to Greg. There is just Greg. That’s why my handle and website are bygregmarine. Everything is by me, from me. I want to be the real deal. Nothing more…nothing less. Take it…or leave it.