I’m back! After a year straight, taking a week off from blogging was nice.  But, now we have a new place and a new name and a new outlook!

Welcome to the brand new biggerthanme.com!  This is something I have been thinking and dreaming about for a while now.  I’m excited to see this new journey start!

For a long time now, I have been bothered by the fact that my web site was based on my name.  Whether I intended it or not it was all still revolving around my name.  I’m not saying that this is always the case, but it felt like it for me.  So I wanted to make a change and here we are!  I wanted to make sure that my name wasn’t getting in the way.

I want to be able to get out of the way and let God use this for something bigger than I can accomplish.  I have big dreams that I know I am incapable of pulling off myself.  I want to see a community that benefits everyone.  A place to pool some common resources and cut down on work for others.  A place for discussions and not just what I think.

So, now it’s your turn.

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Recently I read a blog post by Pete Wilson on social media and an article he had read posing the idea that Facebook is killing us from within.  He posted a chunk of the article here.  The author was posing the thought that while social media is giving us the ability to connect with anyone and everyone, it is also turning us into narcissists.

As someone that uses social media on several platforms, I’d love to say yes and no, but that’s not fun so I am just gonna disagree and speak from my experience.  I’m not going to sit here and try to convince you that there are no self-centered actions on the Internet, but I won’t agree that in general that is the case.  Seems to me that there are 4 types of social media users.

1. Spectator/Casual – Here you have your beginners, dabblers, toe dippers, repeaters (start using it, then quickly die out, then repeat) and onlookers.  They have heard that everyone is on a social media, but they aren’t really sure it’s for them.
2. Business/Spam – Click here for flatter stomachs, bigger muscles, cheaper prices, etc.  All we do here is push our business or blog.  There is nothing personal or relational about our social media usage.
3. Celebrity/Mr. Universe – We like to hear ourselves talk.  We like to look in the mirror and see ourselves.  I think therefore you listen.  Right?
4. Frequent/Community – These people have taken the plunge and are finding out the potential of social media.  They are sharing their thoughts, feelings and pictures as well as receiving the same from the rest of their chosen community.

3 of these groups are missing the point.  Casual users see what appears to be a world-revolves-around-me narcissistic mess.  Spammer help the casual users come to their conclusion.  The celebrity is, well…obvious.  Community is where the meat is, though.  On the outside the casual user looks at the frequent users and sees lots of tweets or status updates about their lives and what they like or don’t like and where they are.  But they aren’t seeing the rest of the community that cares about that stuff.

When you go hang out with your friends over dinner, do you share stories and pictures and thoughts with them or do you just sit around in silence with brief small talk?  Of course!  You share with them!  They are your friends!  They care about you and your life and you care about them and theirs.  That’s how social media works as well.  It’s just a bit more public!

I personally am in a community of people that uses social media to its fullest.  Sometimes it is too much for me but that’s no different than any other physical community of friends.  I love them.  I wanna know what is going on with them, what they are thinking and feeling, and the funny sign they just saw.  That’s what friends do.  I know that online community can be just as loving, caring and supportive as physical community.  In fact I had a friend tell me before that they felt better community and love from their online friends than they did from their church and physical community.  It would probably be tough for someone to convince my friend that it’s mainly narcissism and a waste of time.

So, what say you?  Do you feel differently?  Are you willing to lump all social media into the self-centered look at me crowd or do you see redemption and value in it?

You know they say that babies change your life.  Well, they are right.  Babies definitely change your life.  I was asked the other day what we did before Jessi came along.  Now that our daughter is just about 6 months old, I had to stop and think about it.

Now that we have a baby, I get home from work and we sit on the floor and play for a couple hours with a walk thrown in there every other day or so.  But before, what did we do?  We still did the beach and walks.  We also watched a bunch of shows and went places.  We pretty much did whatever we wanted.  Well, it’s a bit different now.  So different in fact that some where between the end of 24 or the World Cup and the start of college football our HD disappeared.

But now we are into a rhythm with our sleeping habits and bedtimes.  Plus all the new seasons and new shows are coming on.  So for all you people out there who aren’t against TV and haven’t sworn it off, what should we watch?  We like comedy, action, thriller, suspense.  We will likely be attempting to keep up with The Office, Community, Family Guy, Chuck and Fringe.  That may be more than enough.  We may have to get a babysitter just to have a show marathon.

But what say you?  What are we missing out on (after the baby is in bed of course)?  What is the fall 2010 Must See TV?

Community is a big thing.  It’s sexy.  Churches love to push community.  Small group community.  Serving community.  2nd graders community.  And it is important to have.  Living your life or calling with a group of people is great.  But there is another community that is also important and often overlooked.

Many times we neglect the community of people in the same position as us.  They do the same thing we do so they are the competition and therefore the enemy and heaven forbid we share information that might help them!  Sometimes we have the illusion of this community.  We know about the others.  We go to a conference.  We learn from other big namers.  But we don’t actually build or foster the community of those around us.

But great things can happen when we put time and effort into these relationships.  Doctors learn about medicines, procedures, sicknesses.  Mothers learn parenting strategies and tips.  Pastors get ideas, inspiration, review.  When we learn to learn from those around us that have already been there or are going through it, we grow stronger.

Over the last week or so I have had the opportunity to connect with several different people that I would consider in this community for me.  Some are through Twitter and blogs.  Others face to face.  Others I have never even physically met!  But getting to hear their thoughts, ideas, experiences has been huge!  When we join together through common ground and positions we have a chance to learn from each other.

Do you have this community already built?  Do you need to forget the competition side of things and put some effort into yours?  What does this community look like for you?