Edit Me (Not a command, but a real post!)
Monday, April 14, 2008
So, I'm officially hanging out in (on?) facebook. It's addicting! Setting up a profile page, searching for "friends," creating flair, sending bumper stickers, playing games, sending gifts, posting lists of books read, music enjoyed . What an amazing, interactive, creative, self-thinking, ever-evolving, massively-visited social network! I'm thrilled to be connecting with long lost friends while also interacting with my current friends in a new way.
It blows my mind, and it's fun. . .
but it's also got me thinking . . .about image. . .
"editing" the "face" we show to the world.
How much can a facebook profile capture who we truly are? In an effort to describe our lives and personalities, do we "tweak" information to try and put our best face forward? More than education, or jobs, or favorite activities, or things we read, or "groups" to which we belong, isn't it true that what shapes us most are the painful things in life? We build character, stretch our souls, through the difficult things we experience. . And yet it's the hard-to-tell stories--the real life-giving and life-defining journeys--that are strangely missing from our facebook profiles!
Another thing I've wondered about is the loose use of the term "friends." Why do we try to accumulate thumbnail photos of people like a collection of pebbles, and then display them in a virtual showcase (so to speak)? I've been on profiles where the friend-list boasts photos of more than 300. Why do I feel compelled to grow my list? Do I think that the person with the most friends win?
How much does facebook perpetuate my illusion of "connecting" when in reality it can serve to distance from true, human, face-to-face interactions. The more we depend on technology to engage with others the more we risk missing a warm touch of concern, a raised eyebrow, a loving sparkle in the eye, a tear, a voice that catches with fear, a contagious gut-giggle, a wince, a hesitant glance, a glowing smile--all interactions that feed and grow the soul. I mean, God befriended us by making himself HUMAN. Right?
There's a reason he didn't simply promote his personality on facebook.
All of this reminds me of a quote from Luci Shaw's Friends for the Journey where she confesses a deep longing to meet Jesus in the flesh:
"A kind of envy possesses me, as I think of the disciples. I know that by faith I have the help of God the Holy Spirit, but to have Jesus as my friend, with skin on, with his voice tones and personal mannerisms and unique memorable facial features. . . and then I remember that I do meet Jesus in the flesh, as I hear him speaking from the mouths of my friends, as his love wraps me round in their hugs, their letters, their phone calls, their laugher, their tears."
It's hard enough to journey honestly and humanly in daily situations. I cannot help but probe my own motives: What is my obssessive fascination with a community online?
Is it that ego-protecting need to edit?
It blows my mind, and it's fun. . .
but it's also got me thinking . . .about image. . .
"editing" the "face" we show to the world.
How much can a facebook profile capture who we truly are? In an effort to describe our lives and personalities, do we "tweak" information to try and put our best face forward? More than education, or jobs, or favorite activities, or things we read, or "groups" to which we belong, isn't it true that what shapes us most are the painful things in life? We build character, stretch our souls, through the difficult things we experience. . And yet it's the hard-to-tell stories--the real life-giving and life-defining journeys--that are strangely missing from our facebook profiles!
Another thing I've wondered about is the loose use of the term "friends." Why do we try to accumulate thumbnail photos of people like a collection of pebbles, and then display them in a virtual showcase (so to speak)? I've been on profiles where the friend-list boasts photos of more than 300. Why do I feel compelled to grow my list? Do I think that the person with the most friends win?
How much does facebook perpetuate my illusion of "connecting" when in reality it can serve to distance from true, human, face-to-face interactions. The more we depend on technology to engage with others the more we risk missing a warm touch of concern, a raised eyebrow, a loving sparkle in the eye, a tear, a voice that catches with fear, a contagious gut-giggle, a wince, a hesitant glance, a glowing smile--all interactions that feed and grow the soul. I mean, God befriended us by making himself HUMAN. Right?
There's a reason he didn't simply promote his personality on facebook.
All of this reminds me of a quote from Luci Shaw's Friends for the Journey where she confesses a deep longing to meet Jesus in the flesh:
"A kind of envy possesses me, as I think of the disciples. I know that by faith I have the help of God the Holy Spirit, but to have Jesus as my friend, with skin on, with his voice tones and personal mannerisms and unique memorable facial features. . . and then I remember that I do meet Jesus in the flesh, as I hear him speaking from the mouths of my friends, as his love wraps me round in their hugs, their letters, their phone calls, their laugher, their tears."
It's hard enough to journey honestly and humanly in daily situations. I cannot help but probe my own motives: What is my obssessive fascination with a community online?
Is it that ego-protecting need to edit?
