I recently had a very interesting discussion with three Christian friends about social media in general and Facebook in particular. The one thing we all agreed on is that our personal, face to face discussion is much more enlightening and rewarding and our friendship much deeper than any online encounter. Keeping social media from interfering with those personal relationships or our time with God in prayer and Bible study is a real concern in this tech age. A study in Great Britain recently found generation Y is lonelier than any other generation. They spend a lot of time with their many “friends” on Facebook and “followers” on Twitter, but that doesn’t satisfy their inner hunger for close personal relationships and human contact for which we were created.
There are other problems with electronic media. There is a lack of clear communication. I have found texting is the easiest way to be misunderstood. Texts are usually brief thoughts lacking detail and context. It is so easy for a text message to be taken in a way that was never intended. I have never used twitter but I would think it would have the same limitations as texts. Emails are often more detailed but they still lack the nuance of a personal conversation.
Facebook has additional pitfalls. Instead of posting their own feelings and experiences, most people share posts from others or from websites with a specific bias. Some of those sites promote stereotyping and hateful name calling. Coming across those hateful posts can trigger anger and hatred in response. I don’t have anger issues, but I feel sad that people actually feel that way about anyone. My temptation is to try to calm them down and correct the lies and half-truths usually found in such posts. Instead of opening a respectful dialog, that usually just escalates and redirects the hatred toward me, especially from like-minded friends of the person sharing the original post. Some people are quick to unfriend anyone with whom they disagree. I have never unfriended anyone. I just scroll quickly past those shared posts and react with encouragement to their positive posts about family.
I’ve heard people say the internet or social media is evil. That is certainly not universally true. Technology of any kind is only a tool that can be used for good or evil depending on the user.
I’ve seen evidence that the “Father of Lies” is online, but I have also reconnected with old friends and found kindred spirits around the world that I never would have gotten to know and appreciate without social media. We simply must be very careful not to let social media interfere with our love of God or personal relationships with family and friends around us every day who deserve our love and attention.
I am thankful for the discernment of the Holy Spirit that helps me recognize the lies and hate, even when they are sugar or chocolate coated to make them more attractive and palatable. Satan used out of context scripture to temp Jesus and he is still using that tactic on us. When we know the scriptures and get the full context of them from the Holy Spirit, we will be able to avoid the enemy’s traps.