Social Media Friends vs Real Friends

I ran into an old friend at the grocery store yesterday.
It was I guy that I had shared ministry with at a children's camp many years ago. He now pastors a small church in a nearby community.

It was nice catching up with him.

He is one of the hundreds of Facebook friends that I dropped at some time in the past. Perhaps we'll reconnect on social media. I still follow his church page, so I get to see a little of what is happening in the ministry part of his life.

I'm really happy not having people that I see on a regular basis as Facebook friends. I think that we should have normal conversations and relationships OFF of our phones and computers whenever we can. I like using social media to keep in touch with family and friends that I don't get to converse with or relate to on a more natural level.

In a sense, that's opposite of what you might expect from a self-proclaimed introvert. I don't think that real relationships are a problem and I don't really mind exposing myself (so to speak) to people that I know well and am interested in knowing better.

Let's face it--for the most part, social media relationships are not real relationships. Most of the people I follow on Instagram and Twitter I have never met (and probably never will meet) in person. For many of them, I am just a fan of their work or craft and somehow benefit from their posts or just enjoy their pictures and comments. Sure, there are many that I would like to meet and it would be cool to have a famous friend or two, but that isn't really the introverted John that you all have come to know through this blog and social media.

I'm actually more interested in meeting the people that read this blog and write their own personal blogs more than I am in meeting many of the people that follow on various forms of social media. I've been using Facebook much less than I used to and may find that trend to continue. In fact, I may find myself using all forms of social media less and just trying to work and being more social on a personal level.

Wait! Did I just write what I think I wrote?
Ugh!
It made more sense in my head than what it looks like and sounds like when I read it out loud.
This is going to take some effort!

I'd write more but the day awaits and I guess I'll have to interact with a few people along the way.
I'll try to be nice.
Ugh!

John <><