Is it a good idea to share sobriety goals on social media?
On one side, it helps others understand and support you.
On the other side, you’re telling your corner of the world you have a problem and there could be some fallout with friends and acquaintances.
What’s the communities consensus?
I am definitely against it.
Exceptions forms like this ,specialy designed and run by people who have sobriety and support on their mind.
I really dont use any of it,but a few harsh words,comments in a bad moment i think can do some real damage …
I’d say it definitely depend on your situation. My alcoholism and sobriety are not common knowledge where I live. I don’t see any reason to make it so. At the same time, whatever precipitated your sobriety may make a broader knowledge of your work to gain sanity and health a great thing for you and others. Who knows? You knows! (I mean, you know, in dude time.)
If you can get your hands on the documentary “Anonymous People” it will give you some food for thought on this.
For me my addictions were quite public since i was a 14yr old, heavy drinking is common here, never gave a penny… But now that i am on the road to recovery i am in seclusion in every sense cause here people have the tendency to support you in all your aflictions and drag you down when you wanna take a breath of fresh air … But yeah depends on the situation , as i write i get what im saying…
Really depends on the situation,media and social sit.
That doesn’t work for me, I’ll keep my situation private. But to each their own.
I think there is always a danger when we share anything personal on social media. It’s hard to imagine some time down the road where an old post on social media can come back to haunt you: but they can and do. Once it’s posted, it’s out there and accessible— even if you later delete it: it can be retrieved. Once it’s posted, it’s out of your control who sees it; who saves it and who forwards it. I think there are potential negative consequences for jobs, current and future. It’s nice to get public support and encouragement and I appreciate the public accountability of posting for the world to see and I also appreciate that what you post may help someone else. But in my experience, things that may seem innocuous at the time that we post them, can come back to bite us in very unexpected ways.
Thanks for the feedback. I don’t really share anything personal (anymore), so I’m really leaning towards keeping this a personal journey.
Those of us who struggle as well do care…so you never know who you might inspire.
I’m working my way up to it…one baby step at a time.
I started telling everyone I was doing Dry January. Then came February and I joined Dry February. Come March 1st I’m going to post something about it going so well that I am going to continue staying dry for the rest of Lent. Come April 1st, I’m not sure what I’ll say then. I may write out a post about how great I feel having stayed sober that I’m going to continue and see if I can make 100 days. THAT will get me to mid-April. Maybe by then I’ll feel strong enough to be honest and say that alcohol has not been my friend and that I am now ready to show it the door permanently. I’ll just have to wait and see.
I should add that so far people have reacted with “good for you, I could never do that” etc etc etc. It only reinforces to me how much society in general puts an unhealthy emphasis on alcohol. Everyone knows they drink “too much” but also feels like they can’t stop. Well, I’m stopping and if they see that the girl who used any and every social situation as an excuse to get drunk can stop…maybe they’ll try it too.
Staying sober…
I would not share my sobriety goals on social media…the main reason is that some people/organisations look at social media as a matter of course when people apply for jobs etc. And this could influence there decision making… however I have become more open to people over the years but doing it face to face with people I trust… just my opinion
I announced that I took a break from booze and that after I hit my month goal that I felt so good that I was taking a indefinite hiatus from drinking. I received a lot of support, and I will usually share a milestone, such as 100 days, 150, etc., and receive positive support still. And I’ve actually had friends let me know that I’ve inspired them to cut back on their drinking as well. I wanted to make it public so I wouldn’t have to deal with the “why aren’t you drinking” questions from people at different gatherings. Some will ask me if I’m still not drinking and I say yes and some ask if I will ever drink again and I just say I might if the situation is right. And concerning social media and future employers, I was concerned about that just in general, and I work with a guy who works for a government contractor and they personally don’t worry about it, of course that’s just one company. And while it’s true that if something is deleted it can still be recovered, I think that’d be more of a situation where law enforcement was involved to pull records. Like if I deleted a month of my timeline so and so can go and look at my page, but it wouldn’t be available. So I wouldn’t let that bother anyone.
Let’s say you post on Instagram or Facebook about your sobriety. “Likes” and support are wonderful and encouraging and feel good. But what if you: get arrested, divorced, get involved in a custody battle, get demoted, get sued, etc., now, or or at some point in the future. And then say an opposing party or adversary who is challenging your parenting, your stability, your employability, etc., happened to have seen and maybe taken a screenshot of your honest and open hearted posts on fb about your struggles with addiction or your pride in newfound sobriety. You have now essentially created bad evidence which can potentially be used against you in a matter you simply could not have foreseen when you made the original post. Once you post it, you have no idea who is saving, copying and forwarding what you put out in the universe. I’ve seen it come back to bite people hard. I recommend caution.
But you don’t have to declare an addiction to say you are going to live a sober life. One can say they are just trying to live a healthier life. You don’t have to say you are going to meetings or anything.
True, true. 
I’m against social media in general. Beyond this forum, and the linkedin I am required to have for work, I don’t do it.
Sober Time has a share to Facebook option. It adds the hashtag of #SoberTime in by default. You can find these posts if the users decided to share it to the public and not just to their friends. You could look these up and see what people comment to give you an idea of what to expect.
Just an idea. Here’s a search link:
https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=%23sobertime
Say wha…? I did not know this.
There isn’t a way to accidentally post it to FB, is there? And it doesn’t link back here, does it?
Nope, doesn’t link back. It doesn’t have anything to do with the forum, it’s just a way to share your time.
And I don’t think you can accidentally post it.
To do it you need to:
Thanks Robin. I’ve actually been looking around the last day and I can’t really find out how to do it…so I guess I haven’t done it.
I just wanted to make sure that I didn’t accidentally share something TOO personal. I’m fine telling people that I’m going “dry” but not ready yet to share my struggles with my demons.
