25 year old Grand Rapids, MI native, Noah French turned from Marketing Director to faith based social media micro influencer. The reason why might surprise you.
“About 2 years ago I made an Instagram post holding a sign boldly asking, ‘Should Christians be on Social Media?’”, said Noah French. “In the caption I told a story about my experience with social media and the issues I faced in my own life due to my social media addiction.”
“When I was in 7th grade I secretly made myself a Facebook account in the basement at my parents house. I remember the first time I received 100 likes on a photo. It felt amazing! People actually like me. In that first moment, I immediately became dependent on the dopamine levels. I would do and post anything to get the affirmation I so desperately wanted.”
“With most social media success you get negative comments as well. These so-called ‘haters’ or ‘internet trolls’, found my account quickly. It didn’t take much time until cyber bullying soon followed, and little impressionable Noah French began to crumble under the weight. I began to believe them. I would get comments like ‘You’re ugly’, ‘I hate you’, or ‘I wish you had never been born.’ In the course of 7 months after opening a Facebook account, in my basement I had a gun in my hand and was trying to end my own life. By the grace of God, I didn’t end my life that night. But, the comments kept coming.”
“Flash forward to high school and college, my content started to mature and the cyber bullying decreased as girls entered the scene. I would date and post about the prettiest girls knowing that’s what received the highest positive engagement. But, an unknowing result of this was another addiction. I went from posting about pretty girls to liking, commenting, and engaging with them on social media. In real life, I would date someone with the secret of these hidden online relationships. As soon as I dated someone a pretty girl would pop onto my Instagram feed and lust would enter into my mind. Time-and-time again, I would end a relationship with a perfectionist mindset. The girl I was dating wasn’t pretty enough or funny enough or smart enough. I would end up comparing my relationships with people who didn’t even really exist. I bought into a fantasy version of reality. I believed that what I was looking at on social media was real.”
At the end of 2021, Noah started talking time off of social media to reset. He would go a month or two without posting before he redownloaded the app.
“See I looked at the results of being on these apps, and I realized they were hurting me. Social media ruined almost every relationship I’ve ever had and almost ended my life. And, this isn’t just a problem I have. With porn, anxiety, and depression directly linked to social media, there are more Americans than ever holding a phone that’s a ticking time-bomb.”
“But by the grace of God, something happened. As my faith started to mature, I started passively posting about Jesus, and people started messaging me. People from all over the country. People from all over the world. People asking me about God and my faith. I realized that God through my story could make such a difference in people’s lives, and the people that needed to hear that message most were on social media.”
“That’s when I made a very pivotal decision. The only way I would stay on these apps is if I was sharing the gospel. So, I started making faith based posts and recently they’ve been blowing up! And, I’m not going to say I’m perfect. Sometimes I spend a little too long scrolling through reels or on the explore page, but I pray that God uses my posts and content for His glory. I don’t know if my followers know this or not, but I pray over every post and every DM that people send me. It can seem so fake and unnatural, but I just want to love the people that God has put in front of me.”
If you would like to follow Noah French and his journey of redeeming his social media, follow him on Instagram @thenoahfrenchexperience.
