What I would like to do with Facebook
20 09 2007
Facebook. It really is an amazing thing. I'm really not that into it, and yet I check it every day. I don't have that many friends on there (like 40 or so) but I love to see what they're up to, what applications they've added, what events they're attending, and what's going up on their walls. I can download music, and I can watch videos there.
But Facebook has much more possibility than this, especially within the context of Christian Challenge. We have a Christian Challenge MSC group, and that's a good start. However, we have 7 members, and I know for sure we have 15 or so regulars to attend on Thursday nights, plus everyone else we have contact with during the week. Even if we have a 15% luddite (non-technology, like Z) percentage, that's still 20 people or so who know how to use a computer.
Now, imagine if we all used this online application and were all friends. It'd be an instant infusion into community. We'd know each other's birthdays (and if we forget, Facebook tells you), favorite things, and hometowns, as well as be able to keep in contact with each other via messages and walls. We could give each other silly gifts for no reason at all. It'd be a great community.
In reality, Facebook is a high-tech band-aid for a deeper problem college students have. Since they can't find community elsewhere, they find it online. Even within our own group. we find difficulty in creating that community that draws people. I know for a fact that Jesus didn't have Facebook to help him. But He knew his friends, and they knew Him. His followers lavished Him with gift. He lived in community.
If Facebook is the tool we need to develop a community at ChallengeMSC, I say use it. If anyone has a better idea that will work, I say use it.
