the town gossip...facebook?
I frequent the blog of Carolyn Mahaney and her three adult daughters, which can be found here: www.girltalk.blogs.com They are currently doing a series on the issues of how much time women spend on "social media," or what is commonly known as facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc. One of the most recent articles they've posted has to do with the proverbial "town gossip." Sometimes in movies you see this woman (note: it is always a woman) dressed in bathrobe and slippers, hot rollers in her hair, standing outside on the sidewalk, getting in everyone's business. Typcially this woman is not a favorite among the neighbors and is generally not the heroine of the story!
The ladies bring up an important truth in that the town gossip or busybody is now disappearing in her "proverbial" sense because we ALL are becoming that person if we linger over or become obsessed with checking the latest updates of our 500+ friends on their social media. Yikes. I think there is definite truth in this observation.
I remember back about 4 years ago when I first became aware of facebook. At first, I had no interest in joining it. I usually hold out on trendy things. (I don't even have a cell-phone these days.) But my husband and I were care group leaders for a young adult group at the time (who, the vast majority of, were using facebook as their main mode of event tracking), and our friends convincingly showed us that the good in having a facebook account far outweighed the bad. They even started a group called "Petition to get Keith and Kristin on Facebook." So we did. And it was good for that season. I don't know how else we'd have kept in contact with the young adults of our church! Email is a dying art for them.
But honestly, at this point, I see no practical need for facebook. I do not use it to serve others. I find, at times, that I check in on people not because I truly care about them as an individual, but because I just want to see what they've done with their life since high school. Are they married? Do they have kids? Are their kids cuter than mine? Are they in good physical shape? Can you see pictures of their house on their facebook page? If so, is it nicer than mine? Do they work outside the home? If so, is their position prestigious?
Instead of waiting 'til our 25 year high school reunions to see people and get "caught up" on their lives, we can now drop in on them at anytime...via facebook. This perhaps has some good to it. But I think for the most part, curiosity about others' achievements (and wanting to compare) and a desire to "show my best face" (perhaps wanting others to wish they had my life) is what drives facebook (hence the name!). I have gone on facebook fasts before, and I think the rest of this week I am going to do just that. I'll report back next week about my findings!
"They learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not." I Tim. 5:13
The ladies bring up an important truth in that the town gossip or busybody is now disappearing in her "proverbial" sense because we ALL are becoming that person if we linger over or become obsessed with checking the latest updates of our 500+ friends on their social media. Yikes. I think there is definite truth in this observation.
I remember back about 4 years ago when I first became aware of facebook. At first, I had no interest in joining it. I usually hold out on trendy things. (I don't even have a cell-phone these days.) But my husband and I were care group leaders for a young adult group at the time (who, the vast majority of, were using facebook as their main mode of event tracking), and our friends convincingly showed us that the good in having a facebook account far outweighed the bad. They even started a group called "Petition to get Keith and Kristin on Facebook." So we did. And it was good for that season. I don't know how else we'd have kept in contact with the young adults of our church! Email is a dying art for them.
But honestly, at this point, I see no practical need for facebook. I do not use it to serve others. I find, at times, that I check in on people not because I truly care about them as an individual, but because I just want to see what they've done with their life since high school. Are they married? Do they have kids? Are their kids cuter than mine? Are they in good physical shape? Can you see pictures of their house on their facebook page? If so, is it nicer than mine? Do they work outside the home? If so, is their position prestigious?
Instead of waiting 'til our 25 year high school reunions to see people and get "caught up" on their lives, we can now drop in on them at anytime...via facebook. This perhaps has some good to it. But I think for the most part, curiosity about others' achievements (and wanting to compare) and a desire to "show my best face" (perhaps wanting others to wish they had my life) is what drives facebook (hence the name!). I have gone on facebook fasts before, and I think the rest of this week I am going to do just that. I'll report back next week about my findings!
"They learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not." I Tim. 5:13
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