The Facebook Era

Hey all. I'm sitting here, diligently checking my Facebook for any news of my friend who is in labor. She went in yesterday, and still hasn't made much progress, so please keep her, her baby girl, and her husband in your prayers! In checking my Facebook every so often, I've had the same thought over and over; "as great of a tool as Facebook can be, how have we let it become one of our main tools and sources for information?!" And, really, we have.

Think about this: how often do we hear things like, "Is it Facebook official?!" or actually call someone to wish them a happy birthday, or even send them a card instead of shooting a message to their inbox via Facebook cyber world? Hardly ever. Not very long ago, we never would have even dreamed of the capabilities of the internet or social interaction websites. We had the postal system, then the telephone, then computers and internet, and cell phones... and everything keeps getting more complicated, but somehow making life easier for us. Probably too easy. Back to Facebook, here are a few staples of what we use it for that show how it has become such an important piece to many of our lives:

• Employers use it not only for their institutions, but also to see what prospective employees (or current ones) are like outside of work
• Relationships being 'official' only once they're changed on Facebook
• Happy Birthday messages
• "Poking" someone instead of just saying hello
• Sending a message instead of a letter
• Instant messaging while surfing the internet
• The status feed: "everything that you need to know that happened since you logged on last"
• Keeping in touch with relatives and friends
• Announcements (i.e. births, deaths, achievements, etc.)
• Electronically viewing picture albums (also known as "creeping on people".. haha)
• Creating and inviting people to events (i.e. open houses, jewelry parties, birthday parties, etc.)

Did you know Facebook was originally intended as a social network system for college students? ..And then everyone got one.. individuals ranging anywhere from elementary age to grandparents. I bet you were nodding your head and laughing as you read that list. Thing is, we know its true. Whether thats a sad fact or not, is up to the individual, but think about this: what would we do if the internet ceased to exist? Would we lose contact with half of the people we interact with? Would we remeber people who we weren't very close to ten years from now? Who knows. My point is that Facebook has been made a part of many peoples' daily lives.

How can we use Facebook in good ways other than just keeping in touch with friends and family? The first way that pops into my mind is: ministry! Why? Because I use it when I'm in the youth office thinking about what we will be doing Sunday, or to shoot a student a message saying we missed them at youth group and hope to see them next week. Its crazy how we can use it as such a tool! We also have a youth group 'page' where we, as staff, post announcements, encouragement, reminders, etc., and students can post things also.

It has become so easy to interact with people without even being in the same place. Facebook is a fantastic thing, whether it be for keeping in touch, using it for business, activities, etc. I just think that we need to keep an eye on how long we spend with our attention consumed in these kinds of things. There are still plenty of things to do isntead of sit in front of a computer screen! Go outside, take a hike through some woods, go for a walk, a swim, a bikeride, etc.... and THEN we can come back and post a new album of pictures for people to creep on! Haha...