Looking for Facebook Friends
Monday, September 24th, 2007Facebook is currently undergoing a huge surge in growth, an indicator that online social networking is alive and well. Facebook is providing a level of sophistication not experienced in MySpace, through the number of optional applications such as causes, groups, networks, and connectivity with blogs and Stumbleupon. The site is about to open up to search engines, providing limited access to the profiles of those who choose to be found.
I joined up in March this year but didn’t do much with it until May. Since then I’ve added 85 friends, mostly people I know through Uniting Church, emerging church, advertising and blogging connections. Curiously I’ve found it difficult to find people on Facebook from my 39 years living in New Zealand. My profile, available for full view from friends, shows what I say I’m up to, who I’m friends with, groups I belong to, photos I’ve taken, books I’m reading, blog posts I’ve written, along with information on my education and employment history.
On Facebook I’ve found it a simple thing to join causes such as Save Darfur, Amnesty International, Support Breast Cancer Research, Fair Trade, UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Church Marketing Sucks. Facebook culture makes it a normal thing invite people to join your cause, no matter how serious or silly. The highlight of the year was having Kevin Rudd accept the invitation to join Make Poverty History.
And then there’s the groups. I’ve joined groups for the networking they provide, like The Chaser’s War on Everything Appreciation Society, Youth Ministry in Australia, Australian Bloggers, Adbusters, Creatives for Change, Uniting Church in Australia, The Emergent Church, Greenpeace, I work in advertising and am making the world a better place. I’ve just created a new group for Kiwi Bloggers in New Zealand and abroad.
Facebook was originally started as a networking tool for university students. It continues in that role but now has networking around high school attendance, employment, conference attendance and membership of organisations.
Stephen Shields of faithmaps.org has written a downloadable paper (pdf) on “online social networking tools for the church” for Leadership Network. He writes about churches who use sites such as Facebook to enhance networking between members. He finishes with the expected warnings about the dangers of pornography, internet addiction, Christian bickering, and the fickle nature of the internet.
The strength of Facebook, and similar sites, is the capacity for people to network with friends and acquaintances in a way that leads to collaboration, better understanding, the sharing of friendship networks, and perhaps even the development and growth of genuine friendship! That can and should take people beyond their narrow sphere of influence.
The cartoon here, provided by Dave Walker at Weblog Cartoons, is a useful reminder that face-to-face friendships and family relationships need to be fostered, even when Facebook appears to be more exciting.
Tags: Facebook
