Why Worship Singer Taya’s Husband Doesn’t Have Social Media: ‘Want to Be Present’
By Movieguide® Contributor
Christian Huff, husband of Sadie Robertson Huff, and Ben Gaukrodger, husband of worship singer Taya, got together to talk about why Gaukrodger doesn’t have social media.
“I’ve never felt compelled to get it ever. Even [though] I grew up [in the time of] Facebook, Myspace, all the old ones…I don’t know, I just never got into it, into the craze like when people were,” Gaukrodger said on Huff’s podcast.
“It’s not like I have anything strongly against it. It’s not like I’m campaigning against social media. It’s more I just see a lot of the damage that it can cause and mainly a lot of the wasted time,” he said. “There is a lot of good out of it, like what my wife does with it; it’s awesome, like what you guys [Christian and Sadie] would experience as well; there’s a lot of good.”
In December, Movieguide® reported on the birth of Gaukrodger’s and Taya’s firstborn:
Christian singer Taya Smith-Gaukrodger is celebrating the birth of her first child!
“God has been beyond kind,” she wrote on Instagram, sharing her son’s name: Bo Benaiah Gaukrodger. “It is all a gift, thank You Jesus.”
Huff joked that when Gaukrodger married Taya, no one knew who he was. There was a lot of interest in him because of his lack of social media, but Gaukrodger still never felt a push to get it.
“I just see it as such a waste of time, and I just see so many people scrolling through, wasting their time…and you’re just like, man, this dude isn’t even here right now. He’s not even aware,” Gaukrodger continued. “I just want to be present.”
“I want to be in the moment and have my head up and see what’s going on and be aware, as opposed to just…totally absorbed by this thing that’s like designed to capture your attention and distract you.”
Gaukrodger finds it interesting that people often have a lot of admiration for his choice but don’t make that choice for themselves.
“So many people respect it, as well,” he told Huff. “Like when they find out I’m not on social media, the first thing they usually say is, ‘Oh wow, like geez. I wish I could do that,’ and I’m like, ‘Just do it. Like, delete it. Just do it, man.’”
“I don’t feel the pressure to be seeing things or liking things or commenting…I find it releasing, but because I’ve never been on it, it’s just the way I’ve always lived, so…I like it,” he finished.
Aside from Gaukrodger, many celebrities or their spouses choose to stay off social media.
Actress Emily Blunt told Vanity Fair why she doesn’t use it: “Social media has changed the landscape so an encounter with you is valued more as a social-media currency than a genuine interaction.”
Other celebrities like Jennifer Gardner, Eva Mendes and Kelly Clarkson restrict their kids’ social media use in part or altogether.
Clarkson said, “[Social media] can be really hard on kids in general but especially kids with parents in the public eye. So I have informed them they’re not allowed to, under my roof, ever have [it].”
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