Rethinking things

Today as I looked through my Twitter feed, I learned that Instagram will be changing policies a bit. In the new year, they'll have the right to sell our photos without consent and without payment. While I doubt anyone would want to buy my images (unless they are in the market for root beer or silliness), I found myself frustrated that someone could simply take and benefit from something that is mine. Maybe it's because I use Instagram to share a perspective of my life with people I know that makes it seem more personal, but I don't like the idea of one day discovering my photo out in public. Particularly if it's a pic I've taken of a friend's baby or my sisters. I guess really people could have been snagging my photos this whole time illegally and I'd likely never know.

But this morning it has me thinking or rethinking about this need to share. Because really I could just snap a picture and text it to those I love instead of publicly posting it. So do I use Instagram for validation or to show off? If so, that's not really the person I want to be. I feel like there's this dangerous slope of living for ourselves versus living for God or to serve others. All this to say, I'm thinking seriously about eliminating Instagram and maybe even Facebook. It means I'll have to be incredibly more intentional with my communication and I'll probably miss out on tons of pictures and important updates that some people post via Facebook. And if the post office goes under, then mail will become a bit trickier too. But.... I don't know. I don't want to live my life through technology. I'm not saying that I think Facebook or Instagram or Twitter or blogs are bad, but I'm just rethinking their place in MY life.