When I was a kid, I was terrified of Mark 2:47. (If you didn’t grow up in the church, that kind of sounds like the name of a robot. In the movie Short Circuit, the robot was called “Johnny 5.” Maybe I’m just deathly afraid of robots with human names.)
Here’s what Mark 2:47 actually says:
“And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell.”
The thing I was most afraid of was the word “pluck.” That is such a casual word. I had this fear that one day I’d be watching a movie, like Doc Hollywood, and all the sudden some completely unnecessary nudity would occur. My parents, who did rent that movie for me when I was young because “Hey, it’s just Michael J. Fox!,” would turn and say, “Oh no, I bet you saw that with your eye, Jon. Hand me my plucking shears.”
Looking back on it, that seems like a pretty reasonable fear. And though I escaped adolescence with both eyes intact, I have started to see people do a digital version of the “pluck your eye out” move.
Take me for instance: I deleted my friends list on Twitter.
I still follow everyone and love doing so, but I deleted the list of 30 friends I had created.
Why?
Because, as I explained in this post, I was acting like a jealous 7th grade girl. Every time one of my friends would post some amazing tweet about the greatest night of friendship and food and life-changing awesomeness they’d ever had, I would immediately think, “Awww, thanks for not inviting me.” Then I’d get jealous and all ridiculous.
So I deleted the list.
Now when I run into a friend, I don’t know everything that’s happened to them in the last 7 days (which is exactly how 1999 was). And then, they get to surprise me with what’s going on in their lives, at which point I celebrate with them, versus being jealous of them.
And I’m not the only one that’s plucking their digital eye out.
A close friend of mine deleted her entire Facebook account. Other friends of mine have taken digital fasts. Bit by bit, I’ve seen more and more people getting their digital pluck on.
Will that approach to social media fit perfectly for everyone? Of course not, just like not everybody enjoys corduroys as much as I do. I’m OK with that. You’re missing out obviously. The pants actually audibly proclaim your arrival when you walk into someone’s office. But, whatever, try to tell me you’re living a full life without that experience. Whatever.
How about you though?
Have you or anyone you know plucked out a digital eye ?
