Hermenuetics

Comments

Unfortunately a little knowledge of the technology used by Facebook, Google, Amazon, and most of the rest of the Internet would reveal more than this article does. Facebook does not just have available to it the information that you provide. Through your login, which you likely use on other sites, and even it's been discovered sometimes when you don't want it shared, Facebook can track your Internet behavior. It's not just Facebook. Google can keep tabs on your searches. All these sites use that information to try and build up as comprehensive and correct a profile on you as possible. Ever wondered why the ads in your sidebar sometimes seem to actually fit things you've been looking up recently? That's the magic of an Internet cookie. Simply by using any service online you expose your information. Yes, you are in control of how you use the service, but the information collected on you goes far, FAR beyond the data you type into a form. Some day check out the website Spokeo to see just how much information is publicly available out there about you and cross-check it with what you've shared on a social networking site. You may well be very surprised.

Sure, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Also make sure to listen to the cautions of the people who know how the Internet works. They have some things to teach you about what the available technology can learn about you.

Posted By: KT | January 3, 2012 10:05 AM

Spokeo's creepy. There's a reason that I use an alternative last name online, when I use one at all. I don't like being tracked, and where my real last name is fairly unique (fewer than 30 hits on Spokeo, of which two are in my state), my pseudonym (Karen Smith) has rather more.

That said, Facebook can be a wonderful tool. Personally, I have two accounts - the first, my primary, for people that know me in person - it's under my real name. The second is for those I meet online, and is under my pseudonym.

With Facebook, I was able to write important letters to my entire family, and more importantly have them respond with questions and discussion that they could all see. While I did talk to them individually first, it still seemed useful.

It's also excellent for allowing one to track down old friends from High School. I reconnected to quite a few old friends that way, last year; I found out that an old friend of mine is now a disabled vet, another is a volunteer firefighter, and a third is now caretaker.

The other reason to use a pseudonym is, of course, for professional reasons. While I'm open and honest about my faith, I don't necessarily want potential employers to look me up and see my comments on every last thing.

Posted By: Newly Karen | January 3, 2012 10:47 AM

I love Facebook. now, i don't play any of the games either. I just use it to keep up with people and ministry reasons. I use it to speak about Jesus to those I love, those who are watching and my local community. I also keep tabs on my own children and their friends through Facebook. I have reconnected with people I have lost contact with for years. It is an amazing tool that can be used wrongly or rightly. And yes, the internet does get information about what I search about but it doesn't bother me. I have nothing to hide about what I search about. I see it as another way to be upfront about my faith, to tell more people about Jesus, to point to the Light. It is a good thing.

But I will say if you have a problem with trying to please people you might get caught up in trying to do this on everyone's post -- that would drive you crazy and make you manic.

Live to please God. Not people.

Posted By: Jane Hinrichs | January 3, 2012 11:12 AM

Hi Natasha,

I like your moderate, disciplined approach to FB. I was enthusiastic about the site until my son died by suicide and Facebook could not be persuaded to allow my husband and I to view his profile page to see if he had written anything cryptic or disturbing there. The reasoning was that we weren't "friends" with our son.

The irony of a company whose privacy violations are well documented purporting to protect our child's privacy from his parents who were, in fact, attempting to do just that made me a very suspicious user of its services. We were finally offered the option of either leaving his page as it was in perpetuity or deleting it without knowing what was there, so of course we chose to have it deleted. There's much to appreciate about Facebook, but I'll always be an ambivalent skeptic because of what this experience taught me.

Posted By: Christine A. Scheller | January 3, 2012 11:48 AM

hear hear!

I am tired of hearing that we should "unplug" as if it some sort of spiritual duty to remain off the FB map.

However . . . I have CHOSEN to remain on FB for business, and have taken a huge step back on my personal wall due to misunderstandings, assumptions, and perceptions which have come about from "sound-bytes" that I choose to post. There were mini tensions, trash-can fires, if you will, that were becoming too prevalent due to the ease in which one can react (notice I didn't say "respond") to postings. So, I chose to back up and insure that I was being slow to speak on FB as well as in person.

The other thing I learned. What we post is not only viewable to our "friends". I made a custom group for photos. But do to a friends privacy settings, one of our mutual friends who I had NOT added to my custom list, was still able to see the photo . . . so, all that glitters in the privacy world . . .

Anyway, yes, it is our choice. And if I were to diss FB altogether, my business would suffer. However, in the social world, I am now limiting my exposure.

Thanks for writing! (I've actually done a lot of writing about this on my blog if you have interest. Just go there and search for posts about FB)

Posted By: Joline | January 3, 2012 11:54 AM

What about the inane updates and pretentious photos? The need to have your status and photos validated ("liked")?

You "don't understand the resistance"? Some people just aren't interested. I don't understand the resistance to not join.

Posted By: Nadine | January 3, 2012 12:12 PM

I'm not sure I get the point of this piece. Is it to convince people like me that we should join facebook? Or that it's OK if we do? (I didn't know there were many people who took the position that it's not OK and if so they probably don't read this blog.)

I'm not on facebook because I don't have the time and I'm not someone who likes to journal. I find other ways to keep up with people and I don't see it as a necessity right now. Nothing said above gives a compelling reason for me to think differently.

Posted By: Christine | January 3, 2012 12:26 PM

I'm a FB lover

May I say that through all of the article that you wrote about the "Holly Grail" of FB. You never really talked about the percent of couples in America facing seperation or divorce because of FB

In the old days when you would have to sneak around and be a little suttle about ones temptations. We know find ourselves being able to send messeges to old flames or once divorced mate. Oh, the luxury of being able to take a little time in front of a computer screen to nudge and to tempt the other sex into thinking how wonderful life would be if you could just see them one more time.

Do we really think that as a society we were made for just one man or woman? Do we really think as a society that Classmate.com or Facebook.com was made up so we could sit in front of our computers and think. I wonder what he or she would think if I friend?

No, we simply go with our gut instinct and do what we find the most pleasure in. Life is so boring if you simply sit and do nothing.

I look around me and see couples that were once in love and are now hating one another because of lost old flames or divorced but never forgoten mates. That have reconnected and make it appear that life with them again would be so much more wonderful.

Oh, yes. Life with out socialization and the internet. Who needs to sneak around and tell that special somone how you feel. When you can let them know every minute of the day!

Posted By: Douglas | January 3, 2012 12:26 PM

I think facebook has some great perks. But I no longer post on there unless it's through one of the pages I like, but that is really infrequent. I used it mostly for networking, but I no longer visit it or read my friend's updates.

I keep hearing about facebook only shares what you let them. Well, my issue is that there's this sidebar on the right that shares what I don't want known. Yes, I can hide that annoying sidebar, but that doesn't keep from my friends' friends from seeing what they wrote on my wall. I'm very selective about my friends, I'm not one of those who friends everyone's friends.

Here are some interesting things I've read considering fb and privacy.
http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/29/zuckerberg-ftc-settlement/

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1008729

I don't know if I ever will go back to facebook like I use, despite the privacy changes they agreed to. If I wasn't such a private person, I would. But I'm a little neurotic.

Posted By: kimberlee | January 3, 2012 1:55 PM

Nadine, you said this better than I could: You "don't understand the resistance"? Some people just aren't interested. Count me among not only the uninterested but disinterested as well.

Cheers,
Tim

P.S. Actually, I'm not on FB because I'm waiting for the telepathy implant. It's going to be like bluetooth for the brain.

Posted By: Tim | January 3, 2012 1:59 PM

At the church I used to go to, the pastors swear to never be on Facebook. However, if any of the church members discover that you have posted something on Facebook that they do not like, they will inform the pastors about it and you will be "held accountable" at the next "accountability session".

Posted By: Alana | January 3, 2012 2:41 PM

@Alana

I shudder at the entire concept of an "accountability session". My sins - and they are numerous, though I think I'm getting better every day (though that might be my pride talking more than anything) - are between me and God. Others can suggest that I change, they can shun me if they want to, but they don't get to hold me accountable for my sins - I've already been judged and been forgiven.

Posted By: Newly Karen | January 3, 2012 2:56 PM

I am wholeheartedly pro-Internet. Here I am, reading this blog, which I saw was updated via Google Reader (through which I keep track of all my other favorite blogs, as well).

However, I dislike Facebook because I find the interaction shallow, the interface counterintuitive, and, yes, the repeated privacy violations concerning. I use it solely as a signpost for old friends and acquaintances to contact me privately.

It had never occurred to me to shun Facebook for any spiritual reason, and I'd be skeptical of anyone who tried to preach such a sermon to me. (I'm feeling a little skeptical now, having just read a sermon extolling its virtues.) I just flat don't like the site.

Posted By: Sarah L | January 3, 2012 3:21 PM

Thanks for the post.

I must disagree, however, with the comment that "If you blow up on FB, chances are you blow up during face to face encounters as well." It is well documented - as well as personally observed in the last 10 years - that people using technology are much bolder using the written, rather than spoken (face to face), word.

In addition, teenagers' and young adults' brains are not fully developed until the mid-twenties; therefore, reasoning, judgment, and impulse control are concerns in not understanding the potential consequences or insight for what is put into cyber space.

In the case of Facebook, less is definitely more. It is an asset as well as a (potential) liability.

Posted By: slh | January 3, 2012 4:01 PM

I have been thinking this SAME thing for a looooooong time. Thank you for saying all so eloquently. Facebook, when used in moderation can be a lovely tool. STOP complaining about it everyone, You are in control!

Posted By: Caitlyn | January 3, 2012 8:03 PM

Reasons why I don't use Facebook:

1. I don't trust Facebook to keep my private info private, and every year or so, my suspicions are confirmed by yet another admission of guilt from Mark Zuckerberg. This year it was the admission that Facebook tracks your online behavior even after you sign out of the site. In fact, even if you're not a member, if you ever click on a page belonging to Facebook, the site will immediately track your Internet usage for the next 90 days. Personally, I don't want a for-profit company building a dossier on me without my permission and controlling how that information is used.

2. I don't have time for Facebook. I already struggle to keep up with email, voicemail, and the various other ways that people can now reach me 24/7. Participation in Facebook sets up the expectation that I can be on there every day checking all my friends' accounts. I just can't. And I make no apologies for that. What I'm busy doing is living life in the real world rather than in the virtual one.

3. Facebook depersonalizes personal relationships. It's a great way to keep in touch with people who you're not close with--those who live far away or who you haven't seen in years. If it weren't for Facebook, you probably wouldn't be in touch with those people at all. But Facebook has the opposite effect on close relationships. Close relationships don't need Facebook. They're based on something better--face-to-face personal contact. The problem is that when people try to transfer their personal relationships to Facebook, an impersonal medium, it's a step backward. Friends and family can get lazy and start relying on one-line updates and weekly photos to keep in touch instead of real, in-person contact.

4. Facebook promotes arrogance, dishonesty, and envy. Did you know surveys show that something like 75% of people lie at least some of the time on Facebook? Why do you suppose they do? A lot of the time it's to make themselves look better. Social networking accounts have become personal PR platforms through which users carefully craft their images for an audience. For those who are doing well in life by the world's standards, there's an intense temptation to show off for others. For those who aren't, there's an equally strong temptation to lie as well as to dwell on bitter, envious thoughts.

5. Facebook is a breeding ground for infidelity. Someone actually mentioned this above. The site makes it way too tempting to reconnect with a former flame or flirt with that cute girl or guy you met at your sister's best friend's neighbor's party. I've seen more than one relationship damaged because one or both partners got hooked on someone else through Facebook.

6. Facebook stirs up drama. We humans aren't that great at communicating through the written word. We need to hear voices and see gestures and facial expressions. Without that, we're prone to misunderstandings. A lot of those happen on Facebook, and because they happen in public, the hurt and anger are multiplied. It's akin to "airing the dirty laundry." And I'm not even taking into account here the people who deliberately provoke others. A cryptic comment here or a sarcastic remark there can be devastating, especially when it's in print for someone to read over and over again while all their friends read it too. Again, I can't tell you how many people I know who've experienced serious ruptures with friends and family over these kinds of comments, intentional and unintentional.

7. Last but not least, Facebook contributes to a general trend toward narcissism in our society. This is separate from the self-aggrandizing behavior I was talking about before. This is something even more insidious, and it's part of the very fabric of social networking. When you create a Facebook account, you're encouraged to focus on you, you, you and broadcast you, you, you to the whole world: what you ate for breakfast, what you just bought at the store, what you were thinking about while you washed behind your ears. Yet the more time we spend obsessed with the minutia of our lives, the less time we spend thinking about everyone else around us.

I could go on, but this is already long enough. I certainly don't presume to judge anyone who chooses to use Facebook, but I think it would be a misrepresentation to portray the site as a harmless way to connect with others. There are a lot of potential pitfalls lying in wait for Facebook users, and everyone should be well aware of them.

Posted By: TheLordIsMyShepherd | January 4, 2012 2:06 AM

In moderation, Facebook can be a wonderful tool to connect, to express ourselves, to relax and unwind.

But I'm talking to more and more women who have found themselves slowly but surely addicted to the internet and all it has to offer. We're paying less attention to the flesh and blood people in our lives, we're sitting staring at a screen instead of getting out and walking, caring for our homes, playing with our kids, having a life ...

Heading for the computer in the morning before any kind of quiet time with Him? Join the club ...

Posted By: Linda Stoll | January 4, 2012 7:12 AM

There are certainly many advantages & disadvantages to social media, most of which have been well-stated here. For myself, as one of the few slightly older (chronologically) members of a young, rapidly growing church, I find FB quite valuable for getting to know the younger members. As a retired teacher, I've reconnected with former students & colleagues, & as a person with varying hobby interests, I've been able to connect with many people whom I don't know personally, & this leads to witnessing opportunities. In general, I believe that the benefits outweigh the deficits.

Posted By: John G. | January 4, 2012 8:46 AM

This article just read really oddly to me. The tone came off as "Come on all you haters & resisters, stop browbeating the rest of us about this, you can use it responsibly!" And then the idea that we need some Christians to show up on Facebook as if no Christians were there yet... The reason this reads oddly to me is that my husband and I are the only people I know who aren't on Facebook (except for one other couple we know who are not online at all!) I'd like to know where this army of resisters is! Maybe I wouldn't feel so alone! I mean, thanks for the friendly exhortation, it was very nicely worded and not offensive at all... but... do you seriously not realize you are talking to people who are *already* swimming upstream?

On the other hand there's the other part of my experience with this. Many, many times when I've told someone I used to be on Facebook and quit, the person starts talking like a lot of smokers I've known. "Oh, man, yeah. I wish I could quit." That tends to make me feel less alone, and bolster my sense that it's healthy for me to be doing what I'm doing.

I've also seen #4 and #6 of TheLordIsMyShepherd's points above. (Thanks for numbering them, that was handy.) And further: people kill people, but guns make it *easier*, and when it's easier there's a higher chance of a person doing it on impulse, and that's why we don't just strew guns around. In the same way, people slander people, but Facebook makes it both easier and far more public. I am toughing it out in a church that has a whole ton of problems, trying to wait on God till we can rebuild the community, from the ground up if need be. I've dealt with some seriously-messed up people in the process. One day I had to speak the truth in love to someone and it was only when my heartrate soared through the roof that I realized I was deathly afraid of her. Because I knew the kinds of things she said about people behind their backs once they got on her black list, and I knew (by rumor, ha) the kinds of things she said about people on Facebook. I hadn't had any idea slander could provoke such fear in me.

That last is just a personal feeling. It's not any reason *you* shouldn't be on Facebook, just a reason I wish it had never been invented. Because when you think about it, this is what teens in high school face all the time. If not the reality then the possibility. They're very aware.

So, I don't think it's wrong for you all who are on Facebook to be on Facebook. But I think it's good if a few of us can still be here showing people it's OK, and possible, not to be.

Posted By: Crooked Bird | January 4, 2012 1:38 PM

the 'control' you speak of is an illusion. of course they plan to gather your information and sell it. that is not a paranoid thought, that is their business model! as with google, not to mention. it hardly seems necessary to moralize every act of life, whether it is more or less christian to be on facebook; but be aware that once you put something on the internet you have less than no control. i'm not entirely sure these many blogs that seem to be everywhere now don't also rob many people of more productive endeavors, and usually seem just contentious. after all, the goal of any blogger is to elicit replies. best way to do that, say something provocative, not necessarily something worthwhile!

Posted By: beth | January 4, 2012 2:17 PM

@Kimberlee

Maybe I'm one of those people who doesn't understand the way facebook privacy settings work, but I'm pretty sure that your friends' friends can't see anything that's on your own wall if you have the strongest privacy settings enabled. They can, of course, see the comments you post to your friends wall if you're commenting on a public post. The addition of the ticker doesn't alter your previous privacy settings in any way; people can only see through the sidebar on the right what they could see anyway before facebook added the ticker.

I agree with the people who are pointing out that there are potential privacy risks greater than what you can control through facebook settings. If we put that information out there, we have to be ready for the potential consequences. That seems to be a slightly different issue from what the post author is talking about, however. I don't think it's valid to blame facebook for the fact that the facebook community (or whoever you're friends with)knows your business (and I know people who've done this). Yes, the permanence and accessibility of information in the long term is a major ethical consideration that anyone who uses the internet has to face. But within facebook itself, you actually CAN control who sees what. So I guess it's just a matter of conscience; if you feel like having facebook makes it too tempting for you to speak without thinking and engage in narcissistic behavior, and you can't control yourself, then quit cold turkey, get rid of it. But blaming facebook for your indiscretion makes about as much sense as blaming that all that chocolate you ate for making you fat or all that alcohol you drank for making you drunk; in all instances, you were the one who made the choice to overindulge instead of controlling yourself. To remedy the potential problems of facebook by denouncing it as intrinsically wrong is legalistic. I think that facebook is one of those "Everything is permissible, not everything is beneficial" issues, and it's up to each Christian to determine through prayer if Facebook is beneficial for him or her.

Posted By: Bethany E. | January 4, 2012 3:04 PM

I have honestly been amazed at the ways God has used Facebook in my life -- connecting me with old acquaintances, gathering new supporters for our mission (and getting to know our current supporters better), and most importantly: ministering to my non-Christian friends. I have been able to have conversations (not debates!) with non-Christians about their religions, and they have come to know me and not paint me with the brushstroke of the louder media-Christians. Although I am skeptical and sometimes think about leaving, I know God has used me on Facebook and for that, I am thankful.

Posted By: rachel @ even one sparrow | January 4, 2012 8:44 PM

I got on Facebook back when it was just for college students. I did so as a professor as a way of extending my classroom and meeting my students where they are. Facebook has gotten much, much more complicated since then (Facebook) and my audience is much more diverse. But I still use it primarily as an extended classroom and wouldn't give it up for the world. The positives definitely outweigh the negatives when used wisely and for good purposes.

Posted By: KSP | January 5, 2012 7:16 AM

@Bethany E. thanks for articulating my thoughts :-)

Posted By: Natasha Robinson | January 5, 2012 7:32 PM

I thought this was going to be an article about how to use FB for outreach and evangelism (the subtitle was hardly accurate) so just out of curiosity I scanned through it. Instead, it's a promo for the "blessings" of FB. I got the feeling this article was evangelizing FB, not Jesus Christ. My take - if you want to use it, go ahead but hold the propaganda for those of us who don't.

Posted By: Sharisz | February 21, 2012 3:55 AM