We finally got to see the film The Social Network, which is about the creation of Facebook and the relationships between co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and other students at Harvard in those early days. I knew nothing about its origins other than a daughter explaining early on that it was only available to university students. Folk want to "friend" me, which I appreciate but I decided not to go on Facebook earlier on because it seemed like a creepy thing for a man my age to do. Today it seems that half the planet is on Facebook and I'm on the outside looking in. There are lots of youth group/leader Facebook pages in churches, including the one my son uses to communicate with the young people at his church.
The movie is a dramatization, so we have no idea how close it is to the actual story. Zuckerberg comes across as a scmuckerberg who is socially inept himself and betrays his only true friend in order to achieve his goals. We found this to be a very entertaining and well acted movie, whatever its veracity.
I am curious as to whether you are on Facebook and whether you feel it enhances relationships. Do you think it could be an effective tool for congregations? Do you prefer "old school" face-to-face rather than cyberface conversations? Are people who need people the luckiest people in the world?
8 comments:
The movie was great. Am on Face book. I really like it sometimes and don't like it other times. I also like face to face communication. I think facebook is a good asset to use to communicate with groups.
I, also am on Face Book. Part of my reason is that I get to see what my grandchildren are up to. I don't think that people are particularly interested in what I am doing day to day, however, it seems I am in the minority on that. I was most interested in a young friend of mine who 'facebooked' (can it be a verb?) during the labour of her last child. It's the way of the future BUT give me face to face any day!
Blogging is a word we hadn't heard of a few years ago either. Now THIS does enhance my life. Thanks David!
I have chosen not to be on Facebook although it seems almost everyone I know is on, including most teachers I work with. My wife is on so I get do get occasional updates on it and I do respond to people at times through her account.
My seven year old communicates (supervised) quite adeptly through it to people she met this summer from Scandinavia, Europe and the US.
I too prefer the face to face and get a bit concerned with the things I see young people putting up without thinking the whole world can see it.
The ONLY reason I am on Facebook is to monitor my 13 yr old daughter's activities. She has been caught up in the Facebook vortex, and I need to ensure that she is acting responsibly on it.
I do not have my photo posted on my profile, however, and do not have very much personal information included in it.
Too many people spend far too much time on Facebook and other social networking sites, and in doing so, other parts of their lives get affected - interpersonal relationships, work, etc.
I really enjoyed the movie!
I am also on Facebook and through Facebook I keep in touch with my friends in Bowmanville and family in Ontario and Michigan. We just recently let our boys go onto Facebook. They do not have their pictures up, their birth year is mine, they have to get approval from us before they can accept a friend, and we know their password and they know that we will go on whenever we want.
My worst fear is bullying online. I know girls in school who have been affected by this. It's bad enough to be bullied during school hours. My son has been the victim of bullies and we are very careful.
It's a wonderful tool, but like any other tool, it can be used as a weapon.
I am on Facebook. I originally signed up because I teach media literacy and I wanted to be in the know of what kids etc were up to. It has given me insight into what people post and what I need to discuss with my students about the posts they make, who can see them and what netiquette is, etc. I try to practise what preach, by being cautious of the types of things I post.
I only allow limited information to be seen. With having siblings in 4 different provinces and territories and 4 different time zones, it has been the tool we use to keep in touch. It has been a good tool too, in that a roommate from university just found me and we got together two weeks ago, after not having been in touch for 20 years. It was wonderful.
I am on Face book, but only did so to view some pictures that both family and friends had posted. I must admit that I use it very little and have little to no info on it myself. No profile, no picture. When I do touch base, there always seems to be more people wanting to be friends. I must admit that I have ignored a number of the requests. I worry about some of the young people using face book who divulge a lot of information without locking out the public. I still prefer face to face or at least phone calls where I can hear the voice.
Yes, I am on Facebook and have limited what information is availabe to others. It was my sister who got me to join. Like others, I don't think others are interested in daily details of my life. I have had on-line chats with family members and friends but I would much prefer our chats to be in person or via phone. I would say FB chats are more snippits than conversations. For me FB gives me surface images but no real depth. It blows my mind the information, the photos, and language that some people will put on FB. In fact, there are some people that I block because of their language. But FB has allowed me to reconnect with distance relations and friends from my past.
As an group communication tool - I don't know. I read and comment on 4 people who blog but I do not belong to a collective/group/church/committee blog.
I do not own or have a cell phone so I do not have the experience of texting or twittering.
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