Social Media Melee

Dr. Kent Brantly tests positive for Ebola; evacuated to US for treatment

Actor Robin Williams commits suicide at age 63

Police shooting in Ferguson, Missouri leaves one man dead; sparks protests, riots and looting

Israel and Palestinians still unable to reach agreement

The list of headlines could go on and on. 

The media hasn't had to put many human interest stories out there the past few weeks. There have been some crazy things happening in the world. I'm not going to share my opinions on the headlines here. I'm going to share my opinions on what I've seen in social media about the headlines. And let me tell you, it's not good. I've seen more anger, ignorance and racism than I could digest. 

And what I want to say is, didn't your mother ever teach you, "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all"? Even better, if you don't have something intelligent or constructive to say, don't say anything. Because sometimes the truth isn't nice, but it doesn't have to be delivered hurtfully or in anger (with or without spelling errors).

Social media depression can be induced by all the pretty things we see that we think are better than the real lives we live (which is why I started this blog), but sometimes that depression is brought on by our own collective ugliness. 

Everyone feels free to update their status, tweet or post their passionate opinions on the latest story, and then they're off the hook. They can put down the phone, walk away and leave the rest of us to see their social media vomit. And when everyone is vomiting, it's disgusting.

I know we all come across unintelligent and ignorant things on Facebook that are mostly just for fun (read: "Like this post and see what happens!" Or "What Disney princess are you? I got Ariel.") But when it's about REAL issues, maybe do a little research first, then give your opinion, if you absolutely must. Hearing someone has tested positive for Ebola and is coming to the US for treatment may be important to you, but really only if you know what Ebola is, how it's treated, where it's from, how it's contracted, who now has it, where they're going and all that. One of the best things I saw recently was an article urging everyone to stop speculating and wait for Dr. Brantly to share his story. And I agree because, seriously, no one cares what you would or would not do to contain a deadly virus nor are we interested in your opinion about Dr. Brantly's choices.

The worst comments I've seen on social media, EVER, were on a news channel's Facebook posts about the man shot by police in Ferguson. Wow. The racism was rampant on both sides. The cop haters and supporters alike slinging profanities as if they help validate their positions, when, in fact, the opinions shared only fan the flames of tension, racism and general mistrust. Way to go, everyone. Your social media melee has done nothing for creating peace or racial equality. It's just an angry online riot, and I think we can all do without it. 

In short, I'm calling for an end to social media vomit and rioting. I'm not saying everything shared needs to be roses, cats and recipes. I not saying you shouldn't share your opinions on important (or unimportant) issues. But stay classy. And remember, if you don't have anything nice (or intelligent or constructive) to say, refrain from clicking "post". And proof-reading and spell check wouldn't hurt either. 

Wow

Wow. I was not expecting this. 

The response to my crazy idea is overwhelming and humbling! I ended yesterday with 689 page views on the blog, 80 Instagram followers on @uneditedlifeproject and 4 pics tagged #uneditedlifeproject. Which was surprising enough after only a few days.

Then my good friend Karla (IG: @karlareed - you follow her for her fabulous style pulled together from her amazing thrift finds) posted a pic of her unpacked suitcases left over from Christmas vacation to her 20K Instagram followers with an amazing caption. (And if you didn't see the post, you can see it here: www.instagram.com/karlareed - click on the picture of the open suitcases.) @uneditedlifeproject is now over 900 followers, the blog has had over 1100 page views and over 70 pics have been tagged #uneditedlifeproject. And the comments... all the comments! Everywhere! Wow. Just... wow. Thank you, Karla, for not being afraid to post your unedited life in your "highlight reel".  

I'm amazed by all the followers. Grateful for them! But stats aren't everything. I know all those followers and page views means that people want to feel like they aren't alone. That they're normal. That the pressure is taken off. I'm excited about all the tagged photos. That means there's some transparency going on around our social media world. I hope everyone continues to share some truth with their audiences every now and then. 

Now here's a little bit of my unedited life:

I texted Karla this morning to thank her and give her the stats (we're detail people... we like that stuff). She said the post helped her feel a little less pressure. Look at what I said (and the conversation is cropped because this is "Unedited Life", not "Open Book Life") :

Yep. I had fallen into the social media trap of thinking that my online life needs to be perfect. Thought out. Staged. And all in the midst of trying to combat that. Oops. This was, of course, remedied by my Unedited Life post on my personal IG account.

"That moment when the single people stare at you, the people with children knowingly smile and all you want to do is crawl in a hole." 

I really hope everyone finds this project encouraging and freeing. Don't be a hot mess all the time. Just know that when you are, we've all been there.

What was your Unedited Life moment today? 

For more Unedited Life Project photos and commentary, follow @uneditedlifeproject on Instagram or visit www.instagram.com/uneditedlifeproject

Life... Unedited

Have you heard the news????? People are more depressed after looking at social media sites. (fb, IG, tweet, tweet... you know what I'm talking about.) Do you know why? Because almost everything looks wonderful, beautiful or adorably cute in a photo. Statuses are typically either happy news we have to share, funny or witty. We don't usually air out our dirty laundry over social media. I have seen honest posts about the gigantic mess your toddler just made (still kind of cute though, right?), or tragic things that we want our friends present and past to know (illness, death in the family), but those aren't what fill most of our news feeds.

Hmmm... What to do? If you know me personally, you know my life isn't perfect. My kids don't do cute crafts all the time while smiling and singing cute little songs all the live long day. My house is generally a toy infested disaster area. I usually have to remove my pretty jewelry to do dishes or clean, or I've had so much sensory input for the day that I can't stand to wear a necklace any more. But if you looked at my social media profiles (just the photos), you'd think it's all peachy over here. Happy kids, picked up house and awesome accessories all collaged, filtered and sometimes with lovely text and doodles over them.

But that's not real life. That's edited life. And almost all of us have an edited life we put out there for the world to see. Don't get me wrong. I'm not shutting down my Facebook and Instagram accounts. I'm not going to start posting weird pictures and status updates just to prove I'm not perfect. I don't know that you should either. But, I do think we need to be real and we need to know that other people are real and actually struggle or live with monotony most of the time. So, (surprise, surprise) I've created this blog and hope to encourage you in your day-to-day of unphotoworthy and possibly difficult times. 

What this blog WON'T be:

1. I'm not going to whine about my life here. 

2. I'm not going to post everything I've done today that isn't exciting. I'm not going to post things with no meaning. Who would read that?! 

3. I'm not going to encourage you to be a loser. The last thing I want to do is make you to think that it's ok to whine, complain, and be a lazy, disorganized mess when you, in fact, could have your act together. 

What this blog WILL be: 

1. Honest. A place for you to come and read about something real and people who are real (the first post will be about the Christmas decor that is STILL up in my house... Tree and all!).

2. A place to feel encouraged that life gets messy sometimes and that's ok.

3. A way to connect with others that are going through similar situations. 

4. A way to know you are not alone.

5. This will be the blog connected to the Instagram profile @uneditedlifeproject (if you aren't on Instagram, you can still see the photos at www.instagram.com/uneditedlifeproject ) You can hashtag your Instagram photos #uneditedlifeproject (keep it rated G... I will sooooooo report your photo if you don't). I plan to feature a photo of someone else's a minimum of once a week just to show the world there are real people going through real (or boring) things. If you want to participate, know that your photo may be reposted and PLEASE include a story of what's going on as your caption. 

Disclaimers:

1. I'm not doing this to make money. Please. I chose a free blogging site and chose the most boring background for it!

2. My photos will be unedited. The grammar and spelling will be checked, but English was not my best subject, I was NOT an English or Journalism major in college, so if that bugs you, I'm sorry! I hope you can forgive me and maybe be my editor one day. :)

3. Not everything here will be a "Debbie Downer". If you know me, I'm kind of funny. (Just kind of, though.) I'll share good things, too. Mostly moments of triumph that involved some struggle, after all, I'm trying to keep it real.

3. I'm  doing this to encourage you wonderful people out there. Social media can subconsciously do number on us. But it's part of our culture and our world. Almost unavoidable. So, "be careful little eyes what you see"... And choose to have them see good, true things.

4. You can email me at uneditedlifeproject@gmail.com if you don't want to leave a comment.

Thanks for joining me in this project. Get ready to see life... unedited.