Yes, I gave up Facebook for Lent. Yes, I meant to blog more about that experience. Interestingly enough, life has been so full and I've been so lazy in my down time that blogging hasn't happened.
It has been weird not being on FB. A friend gave birth and I wouldn't have known until this week maybe when I got the announcement for the baby's baptism. A number of events and get-togethers have been organized by, gasp, email or phone. How old fashioned!
It's been more than a little liberating. My quips and snarky remarks and one-liners have be relegated back to my immediate surroundings...perhaps where they belong. In context, shared by those I'm with presently. Not for the whole world of my FB friends.
I'm not giving FB up permanently. I love being connected to my family and close friends. But is has put my casual friends on FB in the right perspective.
Granted my friends that are Christians are worthwhile, even if they aren't particularly deep. We are all part of the body of the church. My friends that aren't Christian but I have been connected to most of my life are obviously worthwhile. Something has held us together all the years, and I will continue to pray and trust the Holy Spirit will work in them, hoping that they will accept Christ. There are still others that aren't Christian, aren't close friends, but I feel God has placed in my life for me to be a light to: I continue to pray for them and their salvation as well.
Granted my friends that are Christians are worthwhile, even if they aren't particularly deep. We are all part of the body of the church. My friends that aren't Christian but I have been connected to most of my life are obviously worthwhile. Something has held us together all the years, and I will continue to pray and trust the Holy Spirit will work in them, hoping that they will accept Christ. There are still others that aren't Christian, aren't close friends, but I feel God has placed in my life for me to be a light to: I continue to pray for them and their salvation as well.
But then there's this other category. You know what I'm talking about. The people who you sort of know in real life from your past or present but not really. The folks who friend you, catch up a little bit on life and then you never hear from again. Not on your wall, not in a FB message, nada, nothing, zip. I've had people request me as a friend and skip the catching up part, moving straight to the running silent mode.
I want to give people the benefit of the doubt. I want to believe that people want more than just a big friend list so they can brag or think they're something special because they have "x" many friends on FB.
But American culture is predominately about quantity not quality. More is better. Bigger is better. I think it's best summed up in a High School Musical song, believe or not. Sharpay is a relatively obnoxious, weathly, spoiled princess. In the HSM3, Sharpay and her twin brother Ryan have a duet called "I Want it All" Part of the chorus goes:
"Don't you see that
Bigger is better
And better is bigger
A little bit is never enough
No no no!
I want it all!
I want it, want it, want itThe fame and the fortune and more!
I want it all!
I want it, want it, want it
I gotta have my star on the door"
I think that rings true for a lot of FB. People want fame and lots of friends and so many want to prove that they've arrived. They're Somebody and don't you want to be friends with Someone like them? It's a virtual existence they can make better than real life. (Not true for all, just making observations.)
I don't think I'll be culling my FB friends list anytime soon. I've only ever un-friended two people and that's because they dropped the F-bomb in their status. That was relatively early in my FB days. Now I just hide people. I will probably make a group of the folks who really matter and that I communicate with on a regular basis and continue to share my life fully with them. The rest of the list will probably never notice...
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