One of the many problems that has emerged with the new methods of communication is the faceless path to being mean when interacting online. It is easier to be cruel to someone online when they are not directly across from you in person. Your attempts at being funny or sarcastic may not translate online the way you intended.

NON-VERBAL CUES

This stems from the limitations of online communication. Face to face communication comes with facial expression, tone of voice and other non-verbal cues that cannot be sufficiently replaced with emojis. Being pithy and writing short coherent content is not a skill that most people have developed. But in the meantime, we have a generation not fully developing the face-to-face social skills that are needful and beneficial.

If that describes you, would you like to find freedom? You can! Others are making the choice to unplug from online social media or find ways to keep it under control instead of being under its spell.

HELP FROM THE PROVERBS

Let me demonstrate to you how the ancient wisdom of Biblical proverbs can be applied to the unique issues we face with social media.

“In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise.” Proverbs 10:19

If you applied this proverb to social media, it would mean that you would be wise to be more restrained on what you post and how often. Less is more. More wisdom. Here is a similar Proverb…

“He who has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding is of a calm spirit.” Proverbs 17:27

It takes knowledge and understanding to spare your words and not get riled over something someone else says or posts. You can stay calm; it is more mature. The less mature just blurt things out. Here’s one more helpful Proverb…

“Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.” Proverbs 16:24

When you do post on occasion it should be something that builds others up not tears them down. There’s enough of that already in the world. Bring health to others through social media, not hurt.

Many years ago, I came across an acronym shared by pastor Alan Redpath. He used it to train his congregation to be more thoughtful before saying things that might be hurtful to others. I think it is perfectly suited to help our generation with social media. The acronym is T.H.I.N.K. It will encourage you to T.H.I.N.K. about these 5 things before you post on social media.

TRUE?

T. stands for TRUE. Is it True? Is what I am about to post true or deceptive? Is it genuine or false? But even if it is true, it may not be something you should post. There are other things to consider. That leads us to the next letter in the acronym.

HELPFUL?

H. stands for HELPFUL. Is it Helpful? Not everything that is true is helpful to others, in fact it might even be hurtful. Think about being helpful to others rather than posting things that are simply designed to get more attention on you. Life is not about likes, follows, or shares.

INSPIRING?

I. stands for INSPIRING. Is it Inspiring? The Bible uses the word “edifying”, which means to build up instead of tear down. Is what you are posting something that will build others up and encourage them or is it meant to tear someone down? There is a growing problem of depression and discouragement in our culture. You can be part of the problem or part of the solution, it’s your choice.

NECESSARY?

N. stands for NECESSARY. Is it Necessary? We live in a media-saturated society with information overload. Be considerate of others by limiting your posts to things that are necessary or essential. I realize that you may feel compelled to post time-wasting nonsense to keep up with your peers, but life is too short to waste so much time on meaningless posts. You can be helpful by not adding more unnecessary content to the exabytes of digital content that already saturates that market.

KIND?

K. stands for KIND. Is it Kind? The world seems to be growing darker and meaner by the minute. Kindness is in short supply and in high demand. Be a force for good in this world through showing kindness to others online and offline.

I hope this acronym will help you T.H.I.N.K. before you post. Check out this post that shows how we can find help from the Proverbs.

Many people act as if sleep is overrated, it’s not. Sleep is underappreciated. Everyone needs sleep, but we are not getting enough and one of the biggest culprits is media, entertainment, and technology. I’m going to list some problems then consider some solutions and helpful hints in a follow up post.

PROBLEMS

1. We are staying up too late at night fixated upon entertainment or social media. This is cutting into our needed time for better sleep.

2. Much of the way our brain interacts with entertainment results in overstimulation late at night when our minds should be winding down instead of throttling up.

3. The physical effect of blue light from screens at night that trigger a process that keeps us alert when we need to be getting drowsy.

Let’s consider some of the effects in your life when you don’t get enough sleep.

WHEN YOU DON’T GET ENOUGH SLEEP

Everyone needs sleep, especially REM sleep which stands for Rapid Eye Movement. Dr. Susan Biali Haas writes,

“REM sleep is a stage of sleep that is critical for restoration of your creative and problem-solving skills. If you don’t get enough of it, it can leave you feeling groggy and having difficulty concentrating the next day.”

Most of you probably have firsthand experience of feeling groggy during the day and struggling to concentrate, I certainly have; unfortunately, we continue our bad habits that are causing the problems.

The Environmental Health Trust gives some other insight into the subject,

“Sleep is a time when the brain cleans out toxins accumulated during the daytime. Ensuring a healthy sleep is one of the most powerful steps we can take to prevent illness and protect our family’s health and wellbeing.”

A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS

Did you know that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has declared that insufficient sleep is a public health problem? According to the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School, research suggests that sleep plays an important role in memory, both before and after learning a new task.

“It is more difficult to take in new information following a night of inadequate or disturbed sleep. What’s more surprising is that it is just as important to get a good night’s sleep after learning something new in order to process and retain the information that has been learned.”

If you regularly get a good night’s sleep, it positively impacts your mind, your body, and the various systems in your body including your immune system. But how much do you need to sleep each day to get these benefits? According to the National Sleep Foundation, the recommendation for teens is 8-10 hours every night.

Are you getting at least eight hours of sleep consistently? Check out my follow up post for some helpful hints for getting a good night’s sleep.

BLUE LIGHT?

Did you realize that screens emit a lot of blue light? What is blue light anyways? Light has different wavelengths which produce different colors, sometimes referred to as color temperature. Blue light is similar to the color temperature of daylight, it is a colder white in contrast with a warm white. And when our eyes are receiving blue light, a process designed by God takes place to tell our brains that it is daytime, and we should be awake and alert.

To get a little more technical, blue light in screens stimulate our eyes and brains which, in turn, suppresses a hormone known as melatonin. Melatonin is part of God’s design to help regulate our sleep cycles, technically known as our circadian rhythm, our biological clock.

How do you know when to go to sleep and when to wake up? Well, our bodies tell us when we’re ready. When melatonin is suppressed by blue light from screens, it causes the “light upstairs” to stay on longer as well. Blue light is not a bad thing since it is produced by the sun and causes us to be alert, but exposure to artificial blue light also causes us to be alert, when we’re not supposed to be.

THE NATURAL ORDER HAS BEEN UPENDED

The problem is that the natural order of things has been upended and now our eyes, and our brains are being affected hours beyond the time that the sun goes down. In ages past, people would light their homes with fire, with oil lamps, with candles which all produce a very low and warm light that actually makes you sleepy, and signals the brain to start winding down.

Any light source, including warm lighting can reduce the production of melatonin, but blue light is notorious for making things worse. The technology used to make our screens more energy efficient, also produces much more blue light. A Harvard sleep researcher, Stephen Lockley, points to light at night as one of the reasons many people are getting less sleep than their body needs.

All this time you thought that you’ve just had sleep problems, which could be true; yet, you’ve never made the connection with your nightly screen habits.

SET A BEDTIME FOR YOUR DEVICES BEFORE YOURS

Some experts have recommended setting a bedtime for your devices. Those times range from half an hour to 2 hours before bedtime so that your melatonin production can be in full effect while you’re winding down for bed.

SCREEN AND SLEEP TIPS

How about some screen and sleep tips? Turn on and adjust the night light settings on your phone, computer, or any other device with that functionality. It cuts down on some of the blue light, which can help a little, but not enough to solve all of the problems that come from screens disrupting your sleep.

I wish this were a no-brainer, but don’t sleep with your cellphone. In fact, it’s best to move all screens out of your bedroom. It can also help to replace any lights (including night lights) in your bedroom that may emit blue light, such as LED or fluorescent bulbs. Consider using warm incandescent lights instead.

Make sure your alarm clock has a red display instead or white or blue. The red light is less disruptive to your circadian rhythm. If using a phone as an alarm clock (which I don’t recommend because it’s better to have your phone away from you at night), put it on airplane mode, sleep mode, or do not disturb mode, to prevent any distractions while sleeping.

Instead of using a lit screen to read at night, print off articles or read the actual hard copy of books when possible.

THE NEED FOR SELF-CONTROL

Blue light is only one of the problems affecting our sleep when it comes to screens, it is also the lack of self-control to know when to turn your phone off and give your eyes and mind some rest from the constant drip of notifications, videos, posts, and whatever else keeps your eyes engaged late at night.

Try this following tip and see if it makes a difference and helps you get better sleep. First, set a personal bedtime based on when you must get up in the morning in order to be ready for school, or work and make sure you are getting at least 8 hours of sleep.

Depending on your age, you may need more sleep than that. The next step is to walk the time back at least an hour before your bedtime to be free from screens.

To put it simply, be sure your devices have a bedtime that is at least an hour before yours.

Then, keep your lights on low, pick up a good book, and read in bed. Now you may be wired differently but if I’m tired, reading a book will put me to sleep in minutes. Give this a try for a week and see if you sleep better and wake up more rested.

Psalms 4:8  “I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.”

It’s a safe assumption that at some point in your early years you learned the alphabet. It’s one of the most important things for young learners to master as they begin their academic education. You sang the songs, colored the pictures and little by little learned that letters were important.

Letters came together and became words, and words became sentences, and sentences became paragraphs. Paragraphs became chapters and books. It’s called literacy, but did you know that there is something known as media literacy? Learning how to analyze media and take every thought captive is a subject known as media literacy. 

MEDIA LITERACY?

Media literacy is a term that has been coined to describe the ability to recognize and understand that all media has a message, and those messages have an impact in our lives. The Wikipedia page about Media Literacy says “Media literacy encompasses the practices that allow people to access, critically evaluate, and create or manipulate media”

Relating to critical evaluations it says, “Critical analyses can include identifying author, purpose and point of view, examining construction techniques and genres, examining patterns of media representation, and detecting propaganda, censorship, and bias in news and public affairs programming (and the reasons for these).”

A CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW?

Media Literacy classes are taught in many public schools but not from a Christian worldview. Unlike reading, we don’t need schooling or curriculum to learn how to watch TV, listen to the radio, play a video game, surf the web, or interact with a smartphone or tablet. On the other hand, we do need to be trained to recognize what is being taught and the impact of those messages.

Too often we buy into the deception that it’s just entertainment. But it’s not just entertainment. Let me say that again — it’s not just entertainment. Here’s a slogan I came up with years ago…

Every song is a sermon,

Every movie a message,

Every TV a teacher,

Every word a weapon,

And a picture is worth a thousand words.

It’s a catchy way to remind you that all media has a message.