Another blog post from the archive....

Written by John Goodwin  
Friday, 25 January 2008

Are forces such as the corporate power behind Facebook (www.facebook.com) too big to try and resist? Is it even worthwhile attempting to not run with the rushing masses to provide all the intimate details of our every day lives - thoughts hopes and aspirations - to a machine which is 'listening' to everything? Should we just Google and Gmail our way into massive databases storing unimaginable amounts of facts and figures about our preferences and hang the consequences? What might the consequences be?

I started a Facebook account so I could post an ad. I have one friend. And someone else wants to be my friend. I know the person, but I'm not looking for friends that way. (I thought friends were people who had most likely at least been to your house, or you've been to their's). But no matter what I think and say, is the day coming when we will all depend on Facebook as much as we depend on the Internet and email? Is resistance futile? Are we forming a collective for the common good, or is it a virus as incurable and unstoppable as the common cold? Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.

This morning looking at the Biblegateway (www.biblegateway.com) site I see that their Official Bible Gateway Group on Facebook has exceeded 2,500 members. Everyone is playing the game, it seems. They have message boards, and people from all over the world can "talk" about their faith. Like minded people doing things alike in a way that they like. Is that all there is? And do we have to play the game? Its not that the technology escapes me, as my years advance - hey, I'm posting remote blog entries to a web site I made and host - but the sterile connectedness begins to feel a little tired to me. I'm looking for opportunities to talk about my faith with people face to face, not face to Facebook.

In fact, I wouldn't mind talking about my faith with someone who is not like minded, and doesn't get it, but is interested to know. I'd go almost anywhere in the world to do that. Hey! Maybe I can go online....

Afternote, January 2017: I just looked and Bible Gateway now has almost 900,000 Likes on their page. We've come a long way. I stand by my original thoughts about The Facebook.