Social Media: Distraction or Blessing?

In Psychology of Social Media, we have been talking about online videos and memes. It's been really interesting to see the science behind how things work with online media and how it is evolving and becoming a big part of our culture. Videos and pictures seem to be the biggest forms of entertainment now, especially through the medium of social medias. It's no surprise, of course, that images and videos are everywhere, because it is what attracts the attention of the viewers.

On my mission, I had the opportunity of using Facebook as a proselyting tool, but it took a lot of self discipline to not waste time on Facebook. Even if there is something very specific we get online to do, we are instantly bombarded with distractions which can pull us away from our focus. I will be the first to admit that Facebook can be a distraction to me, and as a missionary I struggled keeping my focus while on Facebook, but I learned a valuable lesson. If we let the media control our actions, then we are going to be lead down paths of unproductive and in some cases evil paths. But if we focus on the good and stay in control of what we watch and look at on social media, we will continue to see the benefits that social media can have.

It's been a great blessing to be studying at a University where we can link secular and spiritual learning. Reading talks from General Conference about technology and media has made a big difference in my perspective. President Dieter F Uchtdorf, of the First Presidency, in his talk "Of Things that Matter Most" highlights the importance of slowing down and focusing on the things that matter most. We live in a very busy world, where we feel an expectation to always be doing something. While we need to be productive with our lives, we can't be busy all the time or we will eventually exhaust ourselves. We need to find a balance in our lives, centered on the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

This week at Devotional we had the wonderful opportunity to hear the words of Elder Dallin H. Oaks and Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as well as Sister Linda K. Burton, Relief Society General President and Elder Donald L. Hallstrom of the Seventy. The theme of the devotional was "The Power of Faith," and each speaker gave a unique perspective on how we can exercise faith in our lives. I believe that when we put our trust in the Lord, we will be able to use tools like social media to better live our faith and keep our focus on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.