It’s crazy when you begin to self reflect. I don’t recommend it. It’s not very much fun. You begin to grab hold of some things that you take for granted or take lightly and find that you need to change.

I love change.

I love changing other things.

I hate changing me.

Do you want to hear a confession? I truly enjoy social media. One night I was a Tigers playoff game and bantering back and forth with a number of friends on Twitter. It added to my enjoyment of the game.

It was all out “there”.

Last night a few of us started talking about Twitter. A comment was made that has stuck like a “splinter in the brain” and brought some of my self reflection full circle.

He said, “You guys put so much stuff out there it’s really hard to find what’s valuable.”

As a pastor, there is one thing I know, words matter. I desperately want my words to count and to have meaning. I want them to have purpose. Everything I do is all about words. When I started to write a blog I thought about why I blogged.

I have never thought about why I social media’ed.

So, here’s the deal, the way I use social media needs to change. That witty banter on Twitter? It’s going to disappear from the public forum. It will find its way into Direct Messages. Twitter is all about interaction. So there will still be some @-tweeting but only when it counts, when there is something to be gained by doing it. The posts will be fewer because what I put out there needs to have meaning. Typically, they will be connected to larger posts at Tumblr/Posterous.

Facebook? I will probably continue to use it the way I have been. Which is post things about my family, links, and various ministry related things.

What about Goole Plus? That’s been a different beast all along. I am not sure yet.

Foursquare? Is there value in people knowing when I check in? Nope. I will moving to Forecast and use it when I want it to be publicly known where I am going to be and for a purpose.

My hope is that when someone looks at my feed on Twitter, my timeline on Facebook, or my series of posts that they will quickly and easily find something of value and meaning.

As one of my favorite blog’s title reads, “Less Clutter, Less Noise”.