Balancing Social Media
Virtus In Media Stat — Virtue stands in the middle; this is a principle derived from the ethical theory of Aristotle. Idiomatically, “good practice lies in the middle path” between two extremes.
This quote came to mind in a discussion I had today on private versus public life. The question in mind was, when do you stop sharing your personal life on social media? My hope was that someone would provide a universal solution, but inwardly I knew this was impossible.
It is impossible because this is a personal decision that we all must make. And once established, it is our job to create boundaries so that we do not cross over these limits and enter into extremes.
Thus, Aristotle came to mind as there are two extremes people tend to take with this. Because, for some reason in their minds, they must either commit to or against it. The first is that they keep their personal life as private as can be, not sharing anything other than the minimum, keeping it to family posts. The second is that they must share everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, from what they are eating for lunch, to what they thought last night at 3 in the morning. We all know these people. In fact, the only way not to know them is by avoiding them and/or their social media.
I would warrant that neither of these extremes is right and that we ought to lean on Aristotle’s philosophy here and stand in the middle. It is only here that we will find balance. And that in finding balance, we might have a chance of maintaining some consistency. Therefore, it is our responsibility to discern what the proper balance is for our stage of life and pursue that.
With that in mind, here are three simple questions that I ask myself before ever posting anything:
- Is this something that I would like to be remembered for?
- If questioned about, is it something that I would be embarrassed by?
- Am I posting this to fit in/put on a front, or is this genuinely me?
