Should Christians ban Facebook?

Great post and an interesting discussion. I know I saw this and immediately thought “What??” It’s a touchy issue simply because so much happens with Facebook: networking, family/friend updates, etc.

It [Facebook] has become a valuable part of society that everyone and everything uses to a ridiculous amount, which seems to make it a necessity if you plan on doing anything these days (I know it isn’t, just trying to make a point).

Letters are outdated. Email is outdated. Even phone calls are walking the line because we’ve become so “socially unsocial” that we prefer texting. It’s to the point where if we can’t see people face to face, then we don’t want to hear them: Enter Skype and Apple’s Facetime App, which are ways of being social and interacting face-to-face but with a major disconnect by design.

Facebook (and Twitter) have opened doors to a realm of social interaction previously unknown. One study showed that people who primarily used Facebook became more introverted, but tended to interact with their own familiar friends/groups more often. On the other side, the study also revealed that those using Twitter interacted with strangers more often and became more extroverted than before, attending social media meet-ups with groups of total strangers.

Social media as a whole has definitely changed the “game.” Professional interviews are more often including a social media check. I’ve heard of many people losing jobs and second interviews over things that were posted on Facebook or other realms of social media. It’s crazy how our society has obsessed over this.

As mentioned by someone else in a comment, this has surely turned into an idol for many people. The thing is – anything in this life can be turned into an idol. A man can love his wife as God intended, or he can obsess over her and turn her into a sort of idol. That does not make wives (or husbands) inherently bad.

Similarly, the case can be made more material items and possessions: television, guitars/music, cars, etc. Many can be very useful and helpful in terms of praising God and sharing the gospel, but when these tools are misused they can become idols and cause devastation to the livelihood of a person.

Facebook (and all other forms of social media) are mere tools. If you struggle with something like the situation mentioned in the post – then it may be best to de-friend or totally remove that person from your social “scene” or delete your account. If not, then there is no reason to go to such “extreme” measures. Honestly, it’s just Facebook, and, while it does have a great influence and power in today’s society, we can all live without it.

If it weren’t for my job, I would have deactivated my Facebook account months ago, but since I must monitor and maintain multiple Facebook-based pages, I need my profile. So when Facebook started to become an idol for me, I had to buckle down and focus my energies back to where they should be.

Facebook is a tool, and like any every other tool in this world – it is our responsibility as Christians to pinpoint whether or not it is something we struggle with and what lengths we must go to in order to protect ourselves from it.

**Wow, that was a lot longer than I originally intended it to be. Great post, Ben! Way to ignite discussion!