no facebook

Several days ago I decided to de-activate my facebook account. Actually I wanted to delete it entirely, but – surprise, surprise – facebook doesn’t “delete” accounts.  It just keeps them inactive until you decide to log in again. To me that is kind of like saying, “You have just logged out of facebook. We know you will be logging back in very soon.”

Not to be weakened in my resolve, I stayed off facebook. For a few days. Then it hit me – I am responsible for keeping two company’s facebook pages updated. Problem: you cannot administer a facebook page without a personal account. As opposed as I was, I was back on facebook.

Rewind.

Okay, so why did I want to get off facebook in the first place? I have observed several trends endemic to the facebook crowd, particularly in the 18-30 year-old crowd. There is slowly becoming a “Stalkers are creepy and definitely not my friends.”re-definition of “friendship” among this particular group of people. Whereas our friends used to be the people that we saw and talked with on a semi-regular basis about at least somewhat personal matters, now the term “friend” can be equally applied to your best buddy, the musician you met at Starbucks three years ago, and the person stalking you because he/she thinks you are cute. This is a problem. Stalkers are creepy and definitely not my friends.

Now, most normal people would say that they do not think of all 1,385 of their facebook “friends” as friends. However, it is usually more difficult for them to point out who their friends actually are. Are you or are you not really friends with the co-worker who comments on your photo albums from time to time? You may share some interaction with them on facebook, but you probably do not really know them. Facebook has created a whole new category of acquaintances, which it has termed “friends” but which are in fact fake friends. Maybe it’s okay to have fake friends, but at least let’s not call them, “friends” — that just leads to confusion.

So, facebook has paved the way for a redefinition of friendship, but that is not all it has done. Facebook has also become a huge time-waster. I don’t have any statistics about how much time the average facebook user spends on the website each day, but I can tell you from personal experience that it is a lot. I know that I have spent far too much time looking at photos and reading status updates from people I don’t really know. Don’t get me wrong. Facebook is not evil, and not all use of it is a waste of time. However, the temptation is present and strong to waste time on facebook when there are plenty of more profitable things to do.

Finally, facebook is designed as a platform for a person to broadcast himself/herself to anyone who cares to listen. Nearly every feature of the website is designed with the assumption that the user has something valuable to share with the world, be it photos, short, pithy nuggets of wisdom, or whatever. Facebook can be a platform for exalting the individual. Now I have some friends who are very good about using facebook for the glory of God. Their statuses are more often Bible verses than updates on where they are and what they are doing. Finding people like this on facebook is a breath of fresh air because they are few and far between. Facebook can far to easily become a “me platform.”

After these harsh words, I want to make several things clear. I do not think less of anyone for being on facebook. If you are using facebook for the right reasons and bringing glory to God, praise the Lord, and keep it up! Also, I do still have a facebook, so I obviously don’t think that it is intrinsically bad. Please call me out if you see me using facebook too much or using it in a self-promoting way. I want to use the website only insofar as I can use it for the glory of God and the encouragement of others.

Please feel free to interact with any of the things I have said.

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