How Do I Use Social Media? A Quiet Corner in a Loud World

By Yvette van Niekerk I'll be honest with you, I am not what you would call a social media person. Not in the way the world seems to expect these days, where feeds are scrolled like scripture and notifications arrive like urgent telegrams. No, my relationship with social media is something quieter, something more like wandering through a garden at my own pace rather than rushing through a crowded marketplace. Let me take you on a little tour of my digital world. Facebook is where I go to simply be. Not to perform, not to debate, not to announce. Just to look and to appreciate. I find myself drawn to the most beautiful, unhurried corners of it: the crochet patterns that make my fingers itch with creative longing. The flower arrangements that remind me that there is still so much loveliness in this world if you know where to look. And then, of course, there are the faces of family, a photo here, a post there, small windows into lives I love. I don't comment on everything. I don't need to. Sometimes witnessing is enough. Facebook, for me, is a quiet gallery, and I am a grateful visitor. LinkedIn serves an entirely different purpose. This is where I step into my professional shoes: focused, intentional, purposeful. I engage with ideas that sharpen my thinking and challenge my perspective. I like and repost the content that resonates, not out of habit, but because something in it is worth passing on. LinkedIn is the boardroom to Facebook's living room, and I try to show up in each space accordingly. Then there is YouTube, and oh, what a gift it has been to my spirit. This is where I sit at the feet of teachers I deeply respect, Pastor Robert Morris, Vlad, and others whose words carry the kind of weight that lingers long after the screen goes dark. There is something sacred about being able to pause, rewind, and truly hear a message again. YouTube has become, for me, less of an entertainment platform and more of a sanctuary. A place to be fed. TikTok now there is the unexpected delight. I did not anticipate loving it, and yet here I am, drawn in by the music and the dancing. There is a joy in it that is almost childlike, a reminder that not everything needs to be serious or significant. Sometimes you just need to watch someone move to a song that makes your heart lift, and smile, and feel a little lighter than you did before. But here is what I want you to understand about all of it: I do not binge. I do not scroll out of anxiety or compulsion. I look when I feel like it, and I think there is a quiet wisdom in that boundary, even if it is one I arrived at more by nature than by intention. And sometimes, often, honestly life is simply too full. Too rich with the real and the present and the immediate. The blog goes unwritten. The feed goes unchecked. And somehow, the world keeps turning just fine. Maybe that is the most honest thing I can tell you about my social media life: it fits around my living, not the other way around. And for now, that feels exactly right. What about you? How does social media fit into your life?