These anonymous individuals, if presented to us honestly, would never be given a moment of our time, but because they exploit social media, hidden from scrutiny, they receive undeserved credibility.

In our lives, the extended hand of the Savior may take the form of help from a trusted friend, leader, or loving parent. While we are struggling in the darkness, there is nothing wrong with relying temporarily upon the light of those who love us and have our best interests at heart.

When we consider thoughtfully, why would we listen to the faceless, cynical voices of those in the great and spacious buildings of our time and ignore the pleas of those who genuinely love us? These ever-present naysayers prefer to tear down rather than elevate and to ridicule rather than uplift. Their mocking words can burrow into our lives, often through split-second bursts of electronic distortions carefully and deliberately composed to destroy our faith. Is it wise to place our eternal well-being in the hands of strangers? Is it wise to claim enlightenment from those who have no light to give or who may have private agendas hidden from us? These anonymous individuals, if presented to us honestly, would never be given a moment of our time, but because they exploit social media, hidden from scrutiny, they receive undeserved credibility.

Our choice to heed those who mock sacred things will distance us from the saving and life-giving light of the Savior. John recorded: “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” Remember, those who truly love us can help us build our faith.

Just as I was embarrassed in the tunnel, we might feel too embarrassed to ask for help when we doubt. Perhaps we are one to whom others have looked for strength, and now we need help. When we realize that the light and the comfort the Savior can extend to us are far too precious to lose to pride, then inspired Church leaders, parents, and trusted friends can help. They stand ready to assist us in gaining spiritual assurances that will fortify us against challenges of faith.

Vern P. Stanfill, Choose Light, October 2015 General Conference

Choose the Light

Building bridges of understanding will require much more of you

 If a friend on social media has strong political or social views that violate everything you believe in, an angry, cutting retort by you will not help. Building bridges of understanding will require much more of you, but that is exactly what your friend needs.

Peacemakers Needed

April 2023

Relief Society and Elders Quorum

Russell M. Nelson

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2023/04/47nelson?lang=eng&verse=#p

We will limit or eliminate time spent on social media; digital games; wasteful, excessive, or inappropriate entertainment; the allure of this world’s treasures and vanities

 If we trust the doctrine of Christ, we will set aside the shiny things of the world so that we can focus on the Redeemer of the world. We will limit or eliminate time spent on social media; digital games; wasteful, excessive, or inappropriate entertainment; the allure of this world’s treasures and vanities; and any other activities that give place to the false traditions and misguided philosophies of men. It is only in Christ we find truth and lasting fulfillment.

Trusting the Doctrine of Christ

April 2023

General Conference

Evan A. Schmutz

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2023/04/27schmutz?lang=eng&verse=#p

They need to be our servants, not our masters.

 Handheld devices, such as smartphones, are a blessing, but they can also distract us from hearing the “still, small voice.” They need to be our servants, not our masters. For example, if later tonight you share inspiring thoughts from this devotional on social media, your smartphone is a servant. If you randomly surf the Internet, your smartphone is a master.

Be Still and Know That I Am God, M. Russell Ballard, May 4, 2014

Relative truth is an excuse for those who don’t want to follow … the correct path

 “Relative truth is an excuse for those who don’t want to follow … the correct path.”

Elder Soares, also cautioned against using social media networks as a personal compass to find direction in life.

“Well-used, they can be helpful, but some promote a world that isn’t real,” he said. “We should use them wisely.”

Ulisses S. Suarez, ‘Relative truth is an excuse,’ Elder Ulisses Soares says at religious congress in Argentina, By Ryan Jensen 9 June 2023, 6:58 PM PDT

We Need to Connect in Meaningful Ways

 In this age of “I choose me,” societies benefit when generations connect in meaningful ways. We need roots to have wings—real relationships, meaningful service, life beyond fleeting social media veneers.

We Each Have a Story

April 2022

General Conference

Gerrit W. Gong

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2022/04/26gong?lang=eng&verse=#p

Whenever possible I would rather have the reader focus directly on Book of Mormon language than on someone else's language about it

Whenever possible I have let the scriptures speak for themselves without commentary from me.  Occasionally those passages are quite lengthy...Whenever possible I would rather have the reader focus directly on Book of Mormon language than on someone else's language about it.  

Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant, Preface

If we spend too much time in faithless places, seemingly well-intended voices deprive us of the spiritual oxygen we need.

 If we spend too much time in faithless places, seemingly well-intended voices deprive us of the spiritual oxygen we need.

Hearing His Voice

April 2019

2010–2019

David P. Homer

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2019/04/27homer?lang=eng&verse=#p

Turn off social media and other outside distractions from time to time to sit and talk and enjoy each other’s company.

Some of you may be overprogrammed with lots of activities, including good ones. Please be careful not to overprogram your children. Turn off social media and other outside distractions from time to time to sit and talk and enjoy each other’s company. As I recently taught in general conference, regularly hold a family council (see “Family Councils,” Ensign, May 2016, 63–65).

Remember, the Lord counseled us to find time to “be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10; see also Doctrine and Covenants 101:16).

To keep family members occupied and away from what matters most, someone is always creating something new—a new app or game, for example, that prompts young people to look down at their smartphones rather than up to see the beautiful creations of God’s wonderful world or even someone they may want to meet, date, and marry and with whom they could have a real-world relationship that results in eternal blessings.

An Epistle from an Apostle

September 2019

Ensign

M. Russell Ballard

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2019/09/an-epistle-from-an-apostle?lang=eng&verse=#p

Anything that opposes Christ or His doctrine will interrupt our joy. That includes the philosophies of men, so abundant online and in the blogosphere

As we diligently focus on the Savior and then follow His pattern of focusing on joy, we need to avoid those things that can interrupt our joy. Remember Korihor, the anti-Christ? Spewing falsehoods about the Savior, Korihor went from place to place until he was brought before a high priest who asked him: “Why do ye go about perverting the ways of the Lord? Why do ye teach this people that there shall be no Christ, to interrupt their rejoicings?”25

Anything that opposes Christ or His doctrine will interrupt our joy. That includes the philosophies of men, so abundant online and in the blogosphere, which do exactly what Korihor did.26

FN 26:

Calumny, meaning a misrepresentation, is defined as a false and malicious statement designed to injure the reputation of someone or something. Calumny was happening in the days of Korihor, and it is happening now. The Prophet Joseph Smith spoke of the invincibility of the Church even in the face of calumny. He said: “The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done” (Teachings: Joseph Smith, 444).


Joy and Spiritual Survival, Russell M. Nelson, October 2016 General Conference

To Help Our Young Men Will Not Take Any New Activity Program, Improved Teaching Materials or Better Social Media

You priesthood leaders and fathers of Aaronic Priesthood holders can work miracles. You can help the Lord fill the ranks of faithful elders with young men who accept the call to preach the gospel and do it with confidence. You will see many you have lifted and encouraged stay faithful, marry worthily in the temple, and in turn, lift and prepare others.

It will not take new activity programs, improved teaching materials, or better social media. It will not require any call beyond what you have now. The oath and the covenant of the priesthood gives you power, authority, and direction. I pray you will go home and study carefully the oath and covenant of the priesthood, found in Doctrine and Covenants section 84.

That He May Become Strong Also, Henry B. Eyring, October 2016 General Conference

This reminds me of this:

We have the doctrines of truth. We have the programs. We have the people. We have the power. Our mission is more than meetings. Our service is to save souls.

Author: Thomas S. Monson
Title: Sugar Beets and the Worth of a Soul
Where: Ensign, Jul 2009, 4–7

3 Simple Habits that Will Establish Healthy Online Activity

The choices and priorities we make with our time online are decisive. They can determine our spiritual progress and maturity in the gospel and our desire to contribute to a better world and to live a more productive life.

For these reasons, today I would like to mention three simple habits that will establish healthy online activity. These habits will generate the daily self-reflections that are necessary for us to grow closer to the teachings of our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

Habit Number 1: Visit the Church’s Official Websites for Resources

Often visits during the week to these resources will help us to always be sensitive to the teachings of the gospel and encourage our family and friends to think and reflect on what matters most.

Habit Number 2: Subscribe to the Church’s Official Social Networks

This choice will bring to your screen the content that is essential to deepen your searching and seeking of the Lord and His teachings, and it will strengthen your desire to understand the gospel. More important, this will help you remember what Christ expects of each of us.

Just as “there is no good soil without a good farmer,”7 likewise will there be no good online harvest unless we prioritize from the very beginning that which is accessible to our fingers and our minds.

Habit Number 3: Make Time to Set Aside Your Mobile Devices

It is refreshing to put aside our electronic devices for a while and instead turn the pages of the scriptures or take time to converse with family and friends. Especially on the Lord’s day, experience the peace of participating in a sacrament meeting without the constant urge to see if you have a new message or a new post.

The habit of setting aside your mobile device for a time will enrich and broaden your view of life, for life is not confined to a four-inch (10-cm) screen.

Seeking the Lord, José A. Teixeira, April 2015 General Conference

With All the Social Media Use Don't Forget Your Own Family

In this digital era, we can so rapidly transport ourselves to places and activities that can quickly remove us from what is essential for a life filled with lasting joy.

This networked life can, if left unchecked, give precedence to relationships with people whom we don’t know or have never met rather than with the people we live with—our own family!
Seeking the Lord, José A. Teixeira, April 2015 General Conference

Severing Your Spiritual Roots and Moving Yourself Toward Stony Ground

Young people, if that teaching seems too general, here is a specific example. If the emblems of the sacrament are being passed and you are texting or whispering or playing video games or doing anything else to deny yourself essential spiritual food, you are severing your spiritual roots and moving yourself toward stony ground. You are making yourself vulnerable to withering away when you encounter tribulation like isolation, intimidation, or ridicule. And that applies to adults also.

General Conference, APRIL 2015,  The Parable of the Sower,  Dallin H. Oaks

We Must Increase Our Exposure to Spiritual Truth In Order To Strengthen Our Faith and Stay Rooted in the Gospel

Spiritual food is necessary for spiritual survival, especially in a world that is moving away from belief in God and the absolutes of right and wrong. In an age dominated by the Internet, which magnifies messages that menace faith, we must increase our exposure to spiritual truth in order to strengthen our faith and stay rooted in the gospel.
General Conference, APRIL 2015,  The Parable of the Sower,  Dallin H. Oaks

Their Scornful Reaction Is, In Reality, Guilt Trying to Reassure Itself

Prophets through the ages have always come under attack by the finger of scorn. Why? According to the scriptures, it is because “the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center” (1 Nephi 16:2), or as President Harold B. Lee observed, “The hit bird flutters!”2 Their scornful reaction is, in reality, guilt trying to reassure itself, just as with Korihor, who finally admitted, “I always knew that there was a God” (Alma 30:52). Korihor was so convincing in his deception that he came to believe his own lie (see Alma 30:53).
Which Way Do You Face? By Elder Lynn G. Robbins - October 2014

Thoughts:  Posting to social media when one leaves the church and making an announcement  on social media (facebook) that one no longer follows the teachings of the Savior or His Church and  you recieive in that forum validation for your decision I feel  is hit squarely on the head by the above.  You are in reality  guilty trying to reassure yourself. 

If We Fail to Give Our Best Personal Self and Undivided Time to Those Who Are Truly Important to US, One Day We Will Regret It.

In our day it is easy to merely pretend to spend time with others. With the click of a mouse, we can “connect” with thousands of “friends” without ever having to face a single one of them. Technology can be a wonderful thing, and it is very useful when we cannot be near our loved ones. My wife and I live far away from precious family members; we know how that is. However, I believe that we are not headed in the right direction, individually and as a society, when we connect with family or friends mostly by reposting humorous pictures, forwarding trivial things, or linking our loved ones to sites on the Internet. I suppose there is a place for this kind of activity, but how much time are we willing to spend on it? If we fail to give our best personal self and undivided time to those who are truly important to us, one day we will regret it.

 OCTOBER 2012 OF REGRETS AND RESOLUTIONS - PRESIDENT DIETER F. UCHTDORF