Well, it's that time of year again for changes and resolutions. I had an interesting experience on Christmas that made me wonder what changes I want to make in my life.
A few days before Christmas, I saw someone had liked an article on Facebook talking about liking posts on Facebook. I laughed to myself about the irony and opened the article. The article explained that Facebook has wired our brains to see a post, examine it and "like it" if it has given us pleasant feelings. A picture of a puppy? Automatic like. A picture of a family? Like likity like like. A picture of an engagement ring? A major like plus an totally sincere "congrats" or "way to go, man!"
The article went on to explain that this woman decided to stop liking posts on Facebook to see if it changed her opinion on likes. She noticed that likes seemed pretty insincere so she allowed herself to comment but no likes. At first, she was worried that her likes would be missed but then learned that it changed the way she Facebook-ed.
Heart warming, right? Well it got me thinking. I'm an avid Facebook-er and an extreme liker on Instagram. Instagram is all about the likes, no one really leaves comments, am I right? Anyway, I was pondering this during winter break and so far, I haven't made any real changes to the way I use social media.
This Christmas was an amazing one, as I really didn't care about the gifts that Santa left me or what my secret Santa cousin got me. Of course, I was very grateful but this month, I was trying hard to focus on the gift of the Savior. I didn't think too hard on what gifts to give others because I was trying to focus on patterning my life after the Savior's life. And it really made all the difference. Instead of sitting back and watching all my little cousins act out the story of Christ's birth, I was able to participate a
s the narrator. I was a little nervous as I have a hard time with words but while I sat there, I really tried to think about why the Savior is so important to me. It was a great day.
Well, Christmas Eve, all of the older cousins and other family members spent a lot of time on our phones, like snapchat and Facebook and such. Lucky for me, my boyfriend decided to give a gift to his mom to put all cell phones in a box on Christmas day, in order to have a phone free Christmas. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to talk to him....haha, I suggested to my family that we do the same. We didn't end up putting our phones in a box but I kept my phone on airplane mode for a majority of the day. I assumed it would be a rough day seeing as I, like so many of my generation, am so attached to my cellular device.
At the end of our Christmas family gift exchange, I got out my phone and turned it on, pretty anxious to see what I had missed. As the notifications came pouring in, I realized, I hadn't really missed much. Yes a text or two and quite a few snapchats but I didn't miss much. That night as I scrolled through Facebook and Instagram, I couldn't help but realize that I wasn't liking as many posts as I normally do.
I wasn't the first "liker" and found myself realizing that my Christmas was much more meaningful and personal than sharing it with hundreds of "my friends" on Facebook and "followers" on Instagram. 
As the year begins, I'm not going to promise to stop liking all your posts on Instagram or to stop posting so much on Facebook. But, I do promise to look up from my phone. I want to live my life without the constant distractions from my phone and really enjoy the little things in life. Because in the blink of an eye, those little moments will be gone and all I'll have to show is social media popularity.
