It's one of my Lenten Disciplines

I have lots of friends who are into Facebook. In fact, I have over a hundred of them apparently. And I go onto Facebook several times a day, on average. But I've noticed that more and more I'm not really looking at Facebook. I'm more glancing at it. In fact what I'm really doing is playing FB games, although I've begun to question the point of that lately too.

My growing issue with Facebook and the ilk is that it despite calling it "social networking" it doesn't really seem to do much of either. A friend of mine recently said she had dropped Facebook for Twitter, and only used it to tell people where she was in hopes that people might agree to meet her at those locations. I also wondered if it could be used to rob her house.

But in any case that seems like social networking, but it isn't the norm. What Facebook seems to be doing is just letting people blurt out whatever is on their mind, free of context or import. It seems analogous to a group of people sitting around a table and each person just sort of shouts whatever they want. "I think the new season of Burn Notice looks excellent." "Go Vikings!" "I'm trying to figure out what Paul meant when he included 'sleepless nights' as things Christians have suffered."

Compare that to how an acquaintance recently used Google Buzz when he asked "what are some ways that I can avoid being confused by changes in editions of rules?" It is an invitation to talk, to communicate. Most of the time people are just "liking" what people post, a sort of affirmation of one's pithiness. I can appreciate someone sharing a link more than I can a person making a cryptic comment about how they may or may not be undoing a mistake they made years ago. Are they getting a divorce? Laser surgery on a tattoo? Selling their Honda?

So for all the inherent lack of value, why am I going there so much? Well, I'm not going to. If I really want to know what someone is up to, I'm going to write them an email. Seeing that they are looking forward to seeing "Wicked" next week doesn't really count as them either talking to me or me talking to them. If I really care, I'll network with them socially.