Ten years- that’s right, only ten years since that ubiquitous facet of our day-to-day living was developed. Facebook started ten years ago by the college upstarts who wanted a way to build a social network, or to connect with girls! It is unlikely that they had any idea that their brainchild would become a phenomenon that would change the world. And it has really changed the world. It has changed how we send messages, how we respond to people, how we announce things, how we share information, how we advertise, how we relate.
I am on Facebook and I check it daily, actually twice a day to see what “my friends” are up to. I seldom post anything. I usually just creep around and see what other people are doing! I think that Facebook is both a blessing and a curse. It does mean that I can connect with old friends, keep up with family events, and can send out greetings and photos to the masses. But it also makes me lazy as far as real conversation and relationship. I think I know what is going on with people because I read their Facebook page, but really the details are so sketchy that there is a lot of assuming going on.
As a Christian I have learned that much of my faith and in fact much of a healthy life is based on relationship. Facebook enables relationship in a techno-sort-of way but it disables relationship in a flesh and blood-sort-of-way. It has added a new dimension to how we connect which is a blessing but it will be a curse if we leave relationship to this kind of social networking. It is still important to talk to people face-to-face and to connect in a real-life heart to heart way.
Are you on Facebook? Do you think it builds relationships or diminishes them?
