Noel and I were noting the other day that, in our lifetime, we have gone from not having a computer in our home until my late 30's/his early 40's to having social media surrounding us 24/7. Without roadmap or rules, we have learned to navigate this worldwide tangled jungle of expression. Sometimes for better, sometimes for worse.

My job takes social media seriously and trains us on it yearly.

What I have learned over the past 25+ years, moving from private e-mail to apps like Facebook and Next Door that can potentially be seen by anyone is to first consider who could be in my audience. I lock down my Facebook page so only friends can see my postings. On a website like Next Door (or even on someone else's Facebook page), the audience is controlled by the owner. That should make me think before commenting there. Would I potentially want my comment to be seen by any person on this entire planet?

I have learned that in most public-facing comments (those on social media where I do not control the audience), it is better to major in comments that are supportive (congratulations, happy birthday, praying for you, etc.). Any advice when someone describes a personal trial might be best sent privately. And I must definitely keep it to myself if the person seems to have brought on their own situation by disobeying God (if they are a very close friend, they will eventually bring things like that up in person, cuing me into a discussion that would be appropriate at that point!).

If I have helpful suggestions or historical information, I feel free to insert that. We are all differently skilled. If our skills can help others, that is a good thing. Sometimes our historical information can start people thinking in a political direction, which brings me to my next topic . . .

Political discussions on social media are almost totally useless. There are two or more main narrratives out there right now and people are probably not going to abandon the one they prefer, no matter what you say. Ask me how I learned that the hard way, through wasting time! :-). I now have my best political discussions privately with a handful of friends (or in person, what a concept!).

Religious discussions may be appropriate depending on the subject. If someone misquotes Scripture, I am probably going to comment, especially if the audience is thousands of people. The person himself may not listen but there may be somebody in the audience who does. I do not believe any one person needs to single-handedly answer all of the Lord's enemies but occasionally I give a strong Christian testimony just to counterbalance the other stuff.

I really admire people who do all of their witnessing in person. Some of them have almost no social media presence. God can use that. I believe He can also use our careful comments on social media. Just keep asking yourself, before hitting "send" that little question . . . "Would I be okay with everybody on the planet seeing this?"