What? Delete Instagram?

Thanks to social media, making connections—and promoting ourselves—is easier than ever. Writing at the Rabbit Room blog, musician Andrew Peterson notes how Instagram has simplified things for artists like him who want people to see their work. But Peterson also sees the downside.

Playing the social media game became “a spiritual issue” for him. Not only did Instagram distract him from family time, it tempted him to see his followers as ways to sell records instead of as people.

So he deleted the app.

This isn’t just an issue for musicians. To varying degrees, we all use social media to promote our personal “brands” and stroke our egos. We love likes and follows. But, as Peterson says, people are “not merely means to an end.” They are “vast souls, invaluable and intricate.” If we struggle to value others, and only care about their “likes” and “shares,” maybe we should trash that app, too.

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