Social networking is all the rage, and I must admit that I got into MySpace for a little while. I burned out pretty quick, though. Too many advertisers (to describe most of them as “inappropriate” would be a grand understatement), too loose moderation, and the fact that it was really hard to update it left me feeling like it was more work to keep up than it was worth.
Then I got onto Facebook and social networking became fun again. I know you still have to be careful in cyberspace, but Facebook does an excellent job at keeping most of the bad stuff hidden. The applications are fun and, for the most part, easy to use, and the pages are clean and inviting. It’s been great to find and keep up with people you haven’t seen in a while, at same time getting a glimpse into the daily life of the people you talk to almost every day. Melinda and I both have Facebook pages and have a ball with it. We haven’t let Jessica get on it yet, but she is still learning about cyberspace and we don’t want to throw her in too soon.
So where is the line?
I just started using a service called Twitter. I had seen it around, but had a few minutes and decided to check it out. Twitter allows you to let your friends (and the whole world) know what you are doing at any given moment. You can update Twitter on the web, via instant message, or through a text message from your phone. You can Twitter as much or as little as you like. If want to let everyone know your every last move, send it to Twitter. Update it a couple times a day and let people know what a typical day looks like for you. Random thoughts, activities, schedule, Twitter is your stage and the world is watching your every move. They even have a public timeline that will show you everybody’s Twitter updates all in a row. You can follow the lives of people you know, don’t know, and may not want to know.
I took it one step further and connected Twitter to my Facebook page and now every time I update Twitter, it updates my status on Facebook. It will probably get really old for me (and for my Facebook friends), but I at least wanted to experiment with it. I want to see how ridiculous it can really get. For example, I just updated Twitter (and therefore Facebook) with an entry that I was writing this blog post. And that brings me to my point…
How much is too much? First, does anyone really care what I am doing at any given moment of the day? If so, what do people care about? Do they want to know activities, thoughts, actions, or all of it? Or none of it? How often? How detailed? Do they want to know who I called, or just that I am making a call? Where does it end?
And then there’s the work factor. Much has been written recently about social networking and its impact on productivity. For example, I am writing this blog entry at work. Since I updated Twitter and Facebook with the entry that that is what I am doing, could that be used against me to say I’m not “doing my job”? There has been a lot of press lately too about potential job seekers being denied jobs because of what they have on their MySpace or Facebook pages. Should that be considered “private” although it’s out there on the web for all to see? You heard it here first, expect a lawsuit over that issue soon. Don’t believe me? Remember the Duke lacrosse players, and the swift judgement America made on them because of pictures of them partying on their MySpace profiles?
Of course, the absolute best policy is 1 Thessalonians 5:22 where we are exhorted to not even give the appearance of evil. However, most people have different standards of what evil is, and therefore I could take just about any picture or statement from some of my most conservative Facebook friends out of context and make them out to be a villain. Should that be used against them, or change your opinion of who they are?
I certainly don’t have answers, and I do enjoy social networking, especially as a way to keep up with long lost, and/or far away friends, but the book isn’t closed on social networking and it’s effect on the world. New technology will continue to emerge, and people will continue to expose their lives for all to see. Some will be responsible and others won’t. In the meantime, like an ice cold Coke, know that while water is the better alternative, no one will judge you for enjoying the Coke unless you chug the whole 2 liter down in front of everyone…