Social Media: noun, websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.

With over 1.65 billion active mobile social accounts around the world, social media has become a way of life. And maybe too much so. I mean, how many cat videos, food images and duck faces do we need to see each week?

But we love to share, don't we? Teens spend an average of 3 hours a day on social media, 30% of all time spent online is on social media, and our total time spent on social media beats time spent eating/drinking, socializing, and grooming combined. In fact, it is estimated that people will spend an average total of 5 years and 4 months of their lifetime on social media. Wow. That's a bit much.

In fact, the study of social media addiction is a very real issue nowdays with programs being designed to help users tame their dependence on likes, shares and comments.

Well, I don't want to get into all that. What I DO want to do, however, is poke a little fun at all the, well, pokes and shares and comments and posts. So I created a weekly Social Media Bingo Sheet for your to use and hopefully enjoy a bit of a laugh at how silly we as human beings can be online. Don't get me wrong, I like social media as much as anyone for its ability to connect, but we do have some entertaining habits and trends as a society. So download or print your Social Media Bingo Card out and have some fun this week!

-Jeremy

Dear LDS Midsingle Competitors:

You are hereby officially invited to attend this year's Dating Games being held right in your own city! These exciting events will challenge your intellect, patience, inner strength, determination, motivation, and perhaps your very sanity. But, I can promise you that if you hold true and faithful to your core values, focus on your goals and keep moving towards the finish line and exercise all the faculties within your possession that the prize at the end of this "race" is more than worth it. 

Along the way you will meet your fellow competitors on the field of play. Many of these individuals have given their best in life and found themselves here at the same station you are in; be patient with them, and remember that they are human beings who come to the table with flaws and strengths, courage and fears, love and pains. That said, we remind all competitors that cheating, unsportsmanlike conduct, and unnecessary roughness of any type will not be tolerated. Indeed, those who attend these Games merely to play for their own amusement at the expense of others will find themselves answering to the highest authority, our chief judge.

Now, that said, remember that these Games are meant to be fun and productive; don't overthink them or place all your value in their outcome. You were meant for wonderful things in this life and your participation in these events are just a piece of that journey. While we all dream of wearing those special rings, know that your day in the sun will come and that all the glory you have worked for all these years will be yours.