Dear Matzav Shmooze,
I will get straight to the point. More and more people are allowing themselves to have access to social media such as Instagram with the excuse that because they are only following the Jewish accounts it’s not so bad.
I think this needs to stop. Do people not realize that the ones who are posting content and entertaining you aren’t the role models that are bringing you closer to Hashem? Quite the opposite.
Many of them have hashkafos that you would never allow in your home! But in the name of entertainment you follow their pages and listen to them and let their krum hashkafos into your house. Don’t you know your kids might be listening? Just because they are Jewish doesn’t mean they can’t have hashkafos and tznius levels that can bring you and your family down.
I would even go so far as to say that if you need the entertainment it’s better to follow a goyish account than to follow some of these people. At least then you would know that the stuff you are seeing is treif and it wouldn’t be such a strong influence.
Social Media Reject
Wow. Just wow. I was thinking of getting Instagram again but this powerful letter helped me control myself. Thank you matzav and the letter writer!
I had Instagram open on my phone for a week, for business.
I was absolutely disgusted – not by the goyisheh posts – but by the disgusting posts from frum Jews. It’s appalling how people portray themselves, with absolutely no regard to basic tznius.
Side note: then some people wonder why they can’t get into schools….
“Side note: then some people wonder why they can’t get into schools….”
side note how does that qualify which children are capable of becoming talmidei chachomim!
This is particularly true about Flatbush Drama
This one is Miles and Miles on target!
I’m not going to comment on the wrongs and rights of social media. I used to be on Facebook and Instagram all day. In fact, I made my parnassah running different corporate accounts. And then we had a terrible health scare. The doctors pretty much gave us no hope and the prognosis was really bad. I decided to give to Hashem so that He would see my teshuva and give to me. I deleted my Facebook, instagram and Twitter, and I quit my social media work. Chasdei Hashem it’s been a year and a half and the yeshua we saw was a total and complete neis which left the doctors flabbergasted. And I haven’t been on Facebook, Instagram or twitter since.
Nu, so what do you do now for parnasa?
If a person TRULY has bitachon and emunah (faith and trust) in Hashem. In every aspect of his life, then Hashem will feed him and take care of him 24-7 just like he fed us the Mann in the midbar for 40 years.
This is a great (if not quite obvious point) the writer is making. However i’m not sure why all those things you are saying about Hashkafos of supposedly ”frum” social media sites and tznius issues etc… does not equally apply to this or most other so called”frum”blogs which are anonymous and kosher in name only. So chances are whoever doesn’t get what is wrong with these blogs won’t get what is wrong with the so called ”frum”social media sites. But good luck anyway in alerting unsuspecting people who would like to do Ratzon hashem.
The worst part i found to be not any thing that can be pinpointed as forbidden but the amount of kinna and taiva it causes
Wow kol hakovod
And nebach frum clothing stores post untzniusdik pictures on their instagram accounts.
untzniusdik according to you? halacha? and if it truly is untznius you dont have to shop there.
I disagree. I think we should be allowed to live in the world and consume whatever media we want, and that it doesn’t have to have any impact on our relationship with Hashem. This is just my opinion and I’m not telling you to change yours, I just figured I would offer a different viewpoint.