Christian users of Facebook’s social network need to be discerning.
As the previous article has made clear, Facebook can be a powerful tool in serving the Lord. But like all technologies, there are some significant dangers that need to be addressed if we are to safely use it for the glory of God. Of course, Facebook isn’t the only website that presents these dangers. But with over half a billion users, it warrants careful consideration.
Privacy: Many Facebook users seem unaware (or unconcerned) about just how public Facebook is. Unless careful steps are taken, what we post on Facebook is available for all the world to see. Moreover, it’s not enough for us to be personally careful. Our friends can easily (and innocently) post items related to us that we would have preferred to have kept private.
Testimony: By design, Facebook enables users to publicly interconnect. This allows any of our Facebook friends—including unbelievers and people we barely know—to post items on our walls (or on their own pages, but tagged to us) that give others a misleading picture of us. If an unbeliever posts a message with crude language or a link to a questionable video, song, or website on my wall, others who visit my Facebook page may very well associate it with me—even though I might not even know it’s there! It’s a good practice to quickly remove anything inappropriate posted by others and to graciously but firmly take steps to ensure they don’t post similar items in the future.
I should also be careful about what I post myself. If my posts and comments are all about movies, questionable Internet links and videos, relationships, and so on, what testimony will I have with my friends? Do I regularly stop to consider what impressions a visitor to my Facebook page would be left with?
More seriously, we should realize that one moment of indiscretion can be permanently and globally publicized on Facebook. Whereas in the past one careless action might have gone unnoticed or known to only a few, a misstep today can immediately be made known to family, friends, coworkers, and fellow students worldwide, often with photos or videos.
False intimacy: By its very nature, Facebook can encourage superficiality. People have hundreds (sometimes thousands!) of “friends”—many of whom they don’t even know. Instead of godly, mature, meaningful relationships, Facebook can lead to shallow, questionable ones. Users may be so distracted by the multitude of superficial online “friendships” that they lose sight of the genuine, godly friendships they ought to be nurturing.
Inappropriate intimacy: Facebook allows for instant intensity and private or intimate conversations with members of the opposite sex that would be acceptable nowhere else in Christian society. Regrettably, however, they can develop on Facebook when a spouse is unaware of his or her partner’s friends and pastimes.
“One of the greatest dangers of Facebook is the immense amount of time it can consume.”
Time: Not only are more people using social sites like Facebook, the length of time spent daily has nearly doubled year over year for the past few years.1 In many cases, that time is not spent doing anything spiritually productive. Instead, we can be caught up in an endless web of information, much of which is useless and some of which is actually harmful. This is not to say that everyone wastes their time on Facebook—there are countless people who use it wisely. Still, we need to exercise care lest it become a time-waster instead of a tool for serving the Lord.
None of this is meant to imply that Christians should avoid this social network service. When used carefully, Facebook can help us glorify God, build up believers, and reach the lost; but each of the pitfalls listed above is real, common, and significant. It is our hope that, by highlighting them, we can help believers to use Facebook in a Christ-honoring manner.
Uplook has a page at: www.facebook.com/uplook
Endnote
1. Neilson Research, www.bit.ly/social-media-usage