I recently re-entered the world of Facebook after about a 6 month hiatus. I think most all of us use some form of social media whether it's Facebook, My Space, Twitter or some other thing. But are these things good for us? This question has been around for as long as social media has been around and a strong case can be made for both sides of the question.
On one hand, Facebook, Twitter, etc. can be great tools for staying in touch with people that you don't see anymore (friends that have moved, old high school buddies, etc.). On the other hand, I have heard about many marriages that are on the rocks because a spouse used Facebook to get in touch with old flames.
On one hand, you can stay up to date with what your friends and family are up to by seeing their status updates and pictures from the fun thing they did over the weekend. On the other hand, sometimes those status updates are negative comments about you or someone you love and those pictures are of some event that you weren't invited to.
Do all these social media options really keep us connected with each other or are they actually doing the opposite? Just today I read an editorial in the USA Today about this exact question. The writer said, "Welcome to life in 2010. We've never been more connected to people around us. We've never been more disconnected either." Is connecting even the point? If it's not, what is?
I am not here to condemn or promote social media, these are just some questions that I am pondering and thought I would share them with you. What do you think?
I think it depends on how you use social media. You can all too easily be "in the know" but not relationally connected at all. It also allows you to pick and choose when and how to relate to others. Face-to-face contact, though, porvides those occasional awkward moments when you can't just turn away and you have to confront the issue in true relationship - even if something in you doesn't really want to. I think this is how Jesus sometimes interacts with us, too. He will confront us on issues that we don't really want to face, but know we need to. True connection pushes us to take that challenge on rather than "scroll to the next post" so-to-speak.
ReplyDeleteSo... I think as long as social media isn't causing people to hide or escape difficulties or live "alternate" lives it CAN bring people together, but it IS a touchy area to be sure.