Facebook and You

Written by Zhey Chua |Posted on March 17, 2009 | Comments

There’s too much noise going on about facebook recently and incidentally, several Christian blogs have come up with articles against the leading social networking website. I know that this post will fan some flames but I just have to write it.

I’ve come across a few blogs whose authors have decided to leave facebook because they felt that it has affected their lives negatively. One blog commented on his addiction to all the cyber gift-giving as well as all the poking and superpoking going on there. Another mentioned seeing sensual images which offend the conscience. Still another pointed out how it has kept him logged on to facebook for hours, completely neglecting prayer time and fellowship with fellow Christians.

Now, I have no problem with them leaving facebook, what I have a problem with is how they have put the blame on the website for their addictions and how they just came about bashing it and putting all the blame on it, and not looking into themselves as willing parties to everything.

I use facebook to reconnect with my old friends, good, dear friends whom I haven’t seen nor heard from in a while. It also helps me keep in touch with my family, cousins and nephews scattered abroad. It keeps me updated with my friends from school and it helps me discover Christian sites, videos, blogs or songs that I wouldn’t find if I were not on facebook. And this is probably why I am writing this, you see, I cannot just put a thumbs up sign and blindedly agree with those who blame facebook for developing addictions and not having time for prayer and fellowship with the Lord. It all just sounds too legalistic, and I am sad that there are actually fellow Christians who make their own worlds smaller than it already is. “The road is already narrow, why make it narrower?” a friend once asked his legalistic pastor. I agree.

Facebook is just a tool. It has no brain of its own to overpower any individual and enslave your thoughts or your life. It is just another website that people go to for a variety of reasons which could be any among marketing, advertising, networking, socializing and keeping in touch with friends or family. It has no capability to inject some sort of drugging thing on your brain to make you fall into an uncontrollable type of addiction, heck, it’s not even caffeine-induced! And if I may even ask, what difference is there between facebook and blogging? Or facebook and youtube? Or facebook and a host of other services that we can now find on the internet?

You see, the problem isn’t really facebook. The problem is you. And, while others advice facebook users to “get a life”, I on the other hand would like to advice you to grow up and take full responsibility for yourselves. If you decided to leave facebook because you got addicted to it, don’t blame it on facebook, blame it on your lack of self-discipline or your weak sense of responsibility. If you find yourself spending more and more hours on facebook than on prayer and communion with God, don’t blame it on facebook too. Blame it on how you set your priorities. And blame it on how you find more joy in being on facebook than being with the Lord. There’s a whole lot of difference there. Again, it’s not about facebook. It’s about you.