Warning: SMICA is now active

Yes, you read it here first, I am coining a new catch phrase. It is called SMICA and really sounds like a new virus or disease. You don’t know what it is? Well, you might have caught it already. Do you have SMICA? Let’s find out:

How much time do you spend every day on your smart phone? How many social media apps do you currently have active and use daily? How much time do you spend every day just sitting and consuming the endless information feed on your favorite apps? How hard is it for you to not check your cellphone for messages during the day? What is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning? Is it picking up your cellphone to check your messages? Take a small inventory so that you can begin to understand what place and importance the use of social media has in your daily life. Your smart phone will give you the information, as you can easily find the screen time for your daily, weekly and monthly use.  We know for a fact that smart phone use with all of its applications is up and growing steadily. Many today are glued to their cellphone as it has become important to them to “stay connected”. I have seen people watch television or participate in live sports events and as soon as there was a break, the first reaction was to pick up their cellphone and feed on social media. Every free moment in life seems to be the next opportunity to pick up that smart phone and connect, even if it is just for a few moments. People do this when a traffic light turns red. Have you ever had to honk at somebody because they did not see the traffic light change back to green? In elevators, everybody seems to be on their smart phones. Waiting rooms? Well, we used to read magazines and newspapers provided, but now, everyone is disconnected from their environment and dives right into the virtual world. In restaurants, movie theaters, it’s everywhere. Can you still enjoy going to the movies because when the lights go down, all you see are cellphone screens in front of you.

I think I made my point here, people in our modern society take every moment they have to connect and enter into the virtual space that is perfectly tailored through algorithms and data collection to their specific interests and desires. If you are doing some or many of the things I have described here than it is most likely that you have caught a case of SMICA! What is SMICA? Let me give you my definition of this new disease that is afflicting society:  Social Media Information Consumption Addiction.

Social media has become the new and most powerful tool to influence the masses and shape public opinion. In my recently published book “The Illusion of Choice” I write: 

“Today´s reality is constituted by the presentation and continuous repetition of images and messages on our screens. It is a representation and sometimes simulation of the supposed reality in which we live at this present time.”

So what is reality based on in todays society, is it truth or facts? No, not really. The reality presented today is based on the continuous presentation of images and information which are repeated over and over again. Depending on the algorithm that presents information to your smart phone apps, you can live in a very different reality than let’s say your co-worker. The best example is the current political divide in our nation. Each side seems to see things and reality completely different. All of us are caught up in this, and depending how SMICA has taken hold of your life, you most likely are on one of these two sides right now.

There is only one solution to deal with SMICA and that is a return to making the word of God your main source of information. Information always has a purpose and is always sent by somebody for a reason. Everything we see on social media has a purpose and a reason for being there. Information is always there to influence those that are receiving or consuming it. I can prove that to you very easily: How many of you have seen something on social media and without thinking about where it came from and who made it, you forwarded it to one or more of your friends with a brief note saying: look at this or watch this? What have you done? You participated in spreading information of which you have no idea where it started, who made it and for what purpose? This is a big part of SMICA, receiving and forwarding information. By doing that, we automatically become a part of the information and data process of this world.

Now, how often did you later find out that the information that you forwarded to your friends, turned out to be false or fake? Did you send a correcting message? Probably not. This is the danger of SMICA and this is how we all become participants.

Gods word must again become the foundation of our thinking and our actions. 

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Galatians 5:1 (GNV)

Freedom of thought, freedom of mind and coming to the correct conclusions must be based on something that has no connection to the world and its philosophies and ideologies. Reading the word of God on a daily basis instead of surfing the net and feeding on social media will drastically change your life, your perspective and the way you feel about yourself and your future. We must understand that there is a use for social media but it must not become our live’s focus. To be healed and free from SMICA, pick up your Bible and begin a reading plan, and further, limit the use of your smart phone apps to certain times during the day. It does not take you that long to check and answer your messages. Use the time saved to fill yourself with something healthy, powerful and eternal. You will see the difference within just a few days and maybe by doing this we can contribute to healing the divide in our families, friendships and in our nation.

And fashion not yourselves like unto this world, but be ye changed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what that good, and acceptable and perfect will of God is.

Romans 12:2 (GNV)