Tuesday, September 06, 2011

5 Thoughts on Social Networking

Thought #1 - Although some think it's a pipe bomb, I think it's a knife.
Pipe bombs are pretty much intended to inflict harm or destroy things. 
A knife can inflict harm, but it can also spread butter on bread. 
From it's inception, a pipe bomb has little to no intention for good.
A knife is mostly intended for good yet can easily be used for evil.
It's all in how you use it.

Thought #2 - It's not necessarily made communication better or easier.
It's made communication faster.  It's made availability better.  The problem is that if I want to communicate something to a group of people, I have about 4 different ways I need to communicate it to get the word out.  One person's preferred communication is email while another person no longer even has email.  One person prefers a text message while another doesn't have an unlimited text plan.  We have to work harder and with more layers now than we used to when it comes to getting the word out.

Thought #3 - It's best used for humor or inspiration.
When I pull up my news feed, I love to get a laugh or get a warm fuzzy.  I get annoyed when people choose to preach, condemn or slam. 

Thought #4 - Adults have more to learn than teens.
I get asked if I'm worried about teens and Facebook.  I often respond, "Not as worried as I am about adults and Facebook."  I find myself cringing more often at inappropriate or poorly thought out posts by parents of teens rather than teens.  I find myself wondering, "Does that person have their computer open to anything other than Facebook all day" with adults more often than teens.


Thought #5 - I love that it lets the world be smaller.
While we were in Uganda and in need of prayer warriors to rise up, we received word back from Indiana, North Carolina, California, Florida, Kenya, India, Germany, the DRC, and Mexico that people were praying.  That is just awesome!  I love that I can send a note of encouragement to my brothers in India who I haven't been able to see for 2 years.  I love that I can interact face to face with my son and daughter when I'm 6 hours away.  I love I can stay connected with the world I've interacted with through a tiny computer or phone screen.

1 comment:

Shirley said...

While I agree preaching on FB can be very annoying, I know of one person for sure that let me know my "preaching" was a strong influence in him coming back to Christ. At the risk of offending the rest of my friends, I'll "preach" for that one who might be looking for it!

I also wanted you to know I appreciated your message Sunday. It was powerful and greatly needed. Thank you.