I know it's hard, but sometimes we just have to put the phones away. Many of us have a scrolling addiction when it comes to social media and the internet as a whole. We also tend to photograph everything instead of just being present and in the moment whenever possible. Whether it's a baseball game with your kids, dinner with loved ones, taking a walk and enjoying nature, watching your favorite entertainer in concert, etc. Much of the things we experience are simply meant to be added to our memory bank and left there for us to admire and smile back on one day. Regrettably, one day--hopefully a day well into the future--we will forget about many of those memories. But that's okay, as it is an inevitable part of aging and life.

I am still learning in the middle of this long-term relationship with social media that everything doesn't need to be photographed. I am certainly guilty of providing my own share of food porn pictures when I've cooked a meal, not even a spectacular one necessarily, or when I go out to breakfast, lunch, dinner at an establishment. I've even gotten to the point of talking about myself and saying things like, "I really shouldn't be doing this" or "Only one more" or "Next time I'll be in the moment and not take a picture." It's ridiculous. Sometimes I shock myself and actually see my promise through and decide not to take pictures of my meal. And every time I do so, I feel a certain level of accomplishment as strange as it might be.

The phenomenal cheesecake will NOT be televised! I mean, photographed!

The perfectly cooked rib eye will NOT be photographed!

The one-of-a-kind hibiscus martini will NOT be photographed!

The funny thing is, it always feels much better when I've remained in the moment, especially at dinner. I begin wondering why I ever participated in this food sharing business. Then I actually notice others around me, in front of me. I also have a more genuine conversation with the person(s) kind enough to share a meal with me.

But, it is fleeting. I fall off the wagon and the process begins again, and I share more pictures of food, however, it is not as frequent now. So, I'm in and out of remission, but I do feel a complete cold turkey shutdown on the horizon.

If you are an active participant on social media, then you've probably had your own moments of oversharing. I can certainly look back and think of a few posts I wish I could take back on some of my social media channels. And with this current presidential election and other horrific things in the news, it is even easier to get caught up in all sorts of debates on the internet.

Nonetheless, even with all the graphic and violent videos, the passive-aggressive explosions, the redundant pictures of food , the political climate, and so on that I see on social media, nothing grinds my gears more than someone doing the following two things, 1) broadcasting the news of a mutual family member or friend's death without attempting a phone call first and showing complete disregard for who may not know about it yet, and 2) sharing pictures of the deceased in an open casket or showing the casket being lowered into the ground at a funeral service.

Tasteless.

High level tasteless.

It is inconsiderate and it is disrespectful. Not only is it completely disrespectful to the family members and friends, but to the deceased as well. If someone were to post a picture of my loved ones, particularly my mother or father in their casket on social media they will feel my wrath sixty trillion times over. (But hopefully I would've gotten to them prior to their little itchy finger having the audacity to do such a thing.)

Posting photographs of the deceased at a funeral service is another example of not being fully present. You have a serious problem if you can't even truly be there for the deceased without your trigger happy camera finger ready to snap a picture of them. It breaks my heart that one cannot even be present enough to grieve with the family, friends and that their thought process is to overshare something so devastating on social media.

These phones are making some of us go nuts and forget some basic manners. It appears that social media etiquette isn't really a thing that many people think about.

Being a writer and a critical thinker I try to maintain a certain balance as I navigate these social media channels, and that isn't always easy. However, I think I've done really well considering. Still, instances like this always make me question my own level of sharing on social media and I try not to fall into the tasteless category unless of course I'm talking about that lizard-sardine lips guy. Then I proudly resort to name-calling and the like.

Scroll on responsibly...

#socialmedia #life #etiquette