Father Casey Cole posted a new YouTube video as we start this Lenten season. The focus of the video is why most of us should be giving up Social Media not just for Lent, but forever. Here's Father Casey Cole in his own words:

He hits a nail on the head here. If your social media doom scrolling is not bringing you closer to God (and let's be honest, it isn't), then it's a distraction that should be put aside for higher pursuits.

We've discussed the pitfalls of social media at length here on KTracy.com; which is part of the reason why I encourage everyone to have their own personal website or blog; like this is for me. You and I are both less likely to blindly share fake news on a personal website that involves writing for several minutes than we are on social media where all it takes is a heart, like, or share to proliferate the false information and lies by feeding the social media algorithm.

I know for me personally, I've gotten into long, pointless debates with people just trying to destroy Christianity or make conservatives look like monsters who have no interest in truth. These debates were an enormous waste of time, as nobody actually reads all the comments and the people I was talking to simply had an agenda and were not interested in listening to anything I had to say. As the saying goes:

"Arguing on social media is like playing Chess with a pigeon. You can play Chess better, but the pigeon is just going to knock over all the pieces and shit on the board."

That's actually why I decided not to allow comments on KTracy.com when I redesigned the website in 2021. It's too easy to anonymously post comments designed only to troll or antagonize. When I did allow comments, I spent hours every week blocking comments that contributed nothing but antagonization and trolling. I can easily be reached with the Contact Kevin Tracy link, and if you're sending a private message, you're more likely to be thoughtful and respectful with what you write. Likewise, when I eventually get Webmention up and running on this site somehow (Static Sites are cancel proof but they do make some features difficult to implement), I love the idea that the only way to get mentioned on the official Kevin Tracy website is to write a blog post; which exposes a person to all of their own readers if they're trolling or otherwise acting like a fool. Personal websites, especially with the IndieWeb protocols in place, does SUCH a better job of holding people accountable for their behavior online than does any Social Media platform; which will simply reward their typically sinful behavior by triggering controversy and flagging the content with interactions for the algorithm.

For me personally, I maintain a Facebook account so I can get invites for family parties, use Messenger to be reached by family who want to reach me that way, and be on the lookout for comic conventions to sell my art at. My opposition to TikTok and TikTok's shady behavior spying on us for the Chinese Communist Party is very well documented on this website, even though nobody seems to care that TikTok is spying anymore. I use Snapchat primarily because it's how I share pictures with my wife and her friends and video chat iPhone users. Finally, my Instagram feed is filled with Catholic influencers and creators, including my local parish priest; which does help my spiritual life. Likewise, I use YouTube and Odysee to share my content and watch videos from awesome Catholic minds like Jimmy Akin, Trent Horn, and Matt Fradd, among many others. While my content is not focused entirely on my Catholic faith, it does greatly influence what I create on there and it shines through just enough to hopefully let people know it's not embarrassing to live your faith in a public way.

I'm pretty happy with how I use the internet today, and it's because I removed that content which does not foster my sanctification from my life.

As Father Casey Cole suggests in his video above, if it doesn't make you holier, get rid of it.

Not just for Lent, but forever! Let's stop worrying about Social Media and concern ourselves only with our identity with God! Let's be saints!