Redeeming Facebook's Name

http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/08/17/rushkoff.flash.mobs/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

I've said it before: I'm not really a fan of social media. I use social media like Facebook because I can keep in touch with people this way. But I also think social media, while it makes the world smaller and keeping in touch easier, has done a great deal to add to the array of things compromising our ability to function face to face in the world.

I mean, seriously: You can even order a pizza online these days.

I've been reading and watching the new regarding the question of whether or not government should have more ability to regulate social media. Is social media promoting anararchy?

Probably not. Anarchy is perhaps too strong a word. Maybe it's promoting the idea that it's easy to put groups together for a common experience. Whether that experience is positive or negative is an end which is determined by the action of the users. I don't believe social media is flawed; I believe humanity is flawed. And granted positivity and negativity are adjectives that become interchangeable depending on which side of the line you're standing. People using social media to get together to form a mob would probably say their reasons are legit. Some parts of society would agree. The victims and parts of society at large would disagree.

At this point, I'm not interested in trying to determine whether or not right and wrong really matter. The fact that some will say that an event is positive while another group describes the same event as negative is really neither here nor there; it's just the way it is. I'm not even really interested in whether or not we can play the blame game where some say, "I blame parents" others say, "I blame social media" and others say, "If you're going to blame anyone, blame the government."

Here's what I say: at some point, whose fault it is ceases to be important. Whether you think social media is evil, necessary or otherwise, the fact is that it's there and it's up to us to decide how we use it. As churches, we strive to use social media to promote our churches and stay in touch with our congregation. As people, we use social media for largely the same purpose. It's good to stay in touch and it's good to have a means to invite a large number of people to your birthday party at the same time. I used my Facebook account to invite all of my friends to attend my ordination and not only did it save me money on invitations, but it reached a group of people I don't even actually have addresses for. A lot of people came to my ordination because they heard about it through Facebook.

In the interest of putting my cards on the table, I think the government regulating social media is dangerous because in the world where privacy and terrorism co-exist (to some degree), it's hard to know where to draw the line. I take security seriously, but I also take my privacy seriously.

Then again, we might ask, "Well, if you're putting it on the internet, you're not really concerned about privacy, are you?"

Yes, actually, I am. I put stuff out there for a specific group of people. Not government officials trying to check if I'm into something that the government might classify as treasonous (I'm not, by the way, in case you were wondering).

Alas, I digress.

You use a peeler or a knife to peel an apple. You wouldn't use a hammer to peel an apple. Social media is a tool, and like any other tool, it's up to people who use it to deterine how it's used. I hope that when people ask why social media is letting people find new ways to run rampant in the streets, we respond by figuring out what programs are missing to help nurture the young people that make decisions to do something violent. As a church, what can we do to offer programs that help nurture young people (because that seems to be the demographic of the people not only using social media, but also the demographic of people engaging in the violence) so that they have a positive outlet to plug their energy into? Move beyond the question of funding, and let's start figuring out better ways to serve the people with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love.

Wishing You Peace,
Pastor Becki