A Face-off with Facebook

In light of the building hype surrounding Facebook stocks going public, perhaps it’s time to ask yet again, “What in the world is going on?” Several sources list the social media Goliath worth around 100 billion dollars.  That is a lot of money.  I recently noticed that Isla Paradita, a private island off the Pacific coast of Panama, is up for sale at the bargain price of $3,700,000.  Facebook has enough money to purchase Isla Paradita 27,027 times. Or, if Facebook were to choose to single-handedly stimulate the American housing market it could purchase 367,647 homes based on the average cost of an American home ($272,000), according to the 2010 census. The point is that Facebook is worth a lot, and is a worldwide sensation that cannot be ignored.

So what is going on?  Steve Jones, a professor who studies online culture and communications at the University of Illinois at Chicago makes this observation: "We've added social networking to our lives. We haven't added any hours to our days. The decision to be online on Facebook is simultaneously a decision not to be doing something else."

So how should we think, and ultimately act, upon this not-so-new phenomenon that continues to soak into every fiber of every demographic? The answer isn’t necessarily obvious, because Facebook is not necessarily the problem. It’s often easy to blame societal problems on certain innovative technology that strongly influences how we perceive the world around us. For example, it’s tempting to think “The internet is the reason why kids don’t play outside anymore, and are so unhealthy these days.” This is an easy assumption to make, but I’ve never actually seen the internet physically restrain anyone from reading a book, painting a picture, or going outside and enjoying the fresh air. If we begin blaming our problems and trends on secondary sources, then where do we stop? If a band of thieves rob a bank using steak knives, who is to blame? The thieves, of course, not the steak knives!  Human nature certainly has the capability of misusing anything, even technology that has great potential for good use. Tread softly and be cautioned. It turns out that our fallen nature gets in the way of Truth and Wisdom. Technology isn’t the problem. We are.

We make choices every day, and the choices that we make show those around us what drives us--what we value. In the midst of the current frenzy surrounding social networking, Christians have an opportunity to take a step back in order to discern how to use networks such as Facebook with wise moderation, and not become disillusioned by false community. We must understand that we’re created for relationship, but let’s not be deceived by replacing true relationships with virtual friends-of-friends-of-friends.

to be continued....

How much is Facebook worth to you? And what are some ways you think we can use it well? You may comment below...


*picture borrowed from http://tinyurl.com/d89geag