Friends in the Age of Facebook

What would the sitcom "Friends" have looked like if it took place in the digital world of Facebook? At first I imagine status updates posted on the apartment doors. Instead of conversations around the kitchen table, in the coffee house and in the living rooms, the characters message one another asynchonously or, by chance, log into the site at the same time (cue pop-up sounds).

It was time for me to take a Facebook fast.

At first, I couldn't verbalize exactly why I knew it was time. Since then, I've been asked to articulate my reasons. Here are a few, in no particular order.

1. A healthy mind is uncluttered. With the insertion of ads and the advent of the timeline, Facebook had begun to feel VERY cluttered. I felt overwhelmed by information and emotion inside the site. How was God's "still small voice" going to EVER get through all that clutter?

2. I want to be sure that I'm a good friend in the real world. Even though I can post encouraging words to people's walls, or post inpiring quotes on my own wall, I felt that my commitment to blessing others in the real-world had dwindled. Certainly, encouraging others in the physical world takes more time, money and effort. But what if we all started to lean toward "Facebook charity" instead of helping our neighbors in a real, physical way?

3. I had become uncomfortable with "too much information." Through Facebook, I was learning about parties, divorces, debts, hook-ups, and other sensitive topics that I probably shouldn't have seen. I could see judgement creeping into my heart, setting down its ugly, bitter roots.

4. This in non-violent resistance to the assumption that communicating on Facebook IS a relationship. People who used to celebrate holidays or visit with us now post a greeting on Facebook instead. They watch our activites and view photos of the children growing up. But they no longer stop in or call. Perhaps, they assume, they are still "keeping in touch" through the site?

Here's to hanging out, building deep relationships, writing long letters, and dropping in. I hope that these are things my children (and their FRIENDS) will still be able to experience in the future.