Facebook is the
largest social networking website in the world and has grown massively in the 8
years it has existed. Today Facebook has over 955 million active users. [1] That’s 13.7% of the world’s
population. If Facebook was a
country, its population would be 3 times larger than the USA. It’s as popular with the girls as it is
with the guys and the average user is on Facebook around half an hour a
day. Young people are well
represented on Facebook: 20% of users are aged 13-17. The youth leaders are on there too: 26% are 18-25 and
another 26% are 26-34. [2] The co-creator, co-founder, Chairman
& CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg is the world’s 2nd youngest
self-made billionaire. [3] And Facebook even has its own feature
film – ‘The Social Network’, released in 2010. In short: Facebook is HUGE.
Twitter (a
micro-blogging website that allows registered users to ‘tweet’ short messages
of 140 characters or less) is now one of the top 10 most visited websites in
the world. It has over 500 million
active users. 63% of Twitter users are aged under 35 and millions follow the
tweets of the celebrities who make up the ranks of the twitterati. Right now Ricky Gervais is dispensing
advice: ‘It sometimes takes 10 to 15 years to become an overnight
sensation. Don’t give up too
easily.’ Oprah Winfrey wants us to know that ‘the
privilege of a lifetime is being who you are’. And
Justin Bieber (the second most followed celebrity on Twitter with over 27
million people signing up to get his thoughts) wants us to know he’s at his
house ‘cookin some noodles’. Wow.
So what are the
best opportunities of Facebook and Twitter, especially for youth workers? And what are the pitfalls and risks? For what it’s worth, here are my top 5
likes and dislikes…
Like 1: People!
The best thing
about Facebook and Twitter is they’re all about people! Have you ever stood in
an art gallery and spent most of your time staring at other people instead of
the paintings? Maybe it’s just me. God has made people in his image and
they’re fascinating, creative, surprising, enterprising, compassionate,
touching and funny! Facebook
connects us with family and friends we wouldn’t otherwise see or speak to much
or at all. Twitter allows us to
connect to the latest from the minds of people who are famous for their wisdom,
wit and humour. Social
connectivity and cultural enlightenment at the touch of a button.
Brilliant! For me as a youth worker,
Facebook is basically a second email account for getting hold of young people
who either don’t have email or do but never check it. Facebook is where they are so that’s where I have to
go. Or take my friend Sarah for
example who managed to build such great friendships on Twitter with Strictly
fans that they went away on holiday together. Great stuff.
Like 2: Interest
If you’re
someone who wants to take an interest in people or like me, a youth worker
who’s always thinking about people in the group, wondering how they’re doing,
what they’re up to and what they’re talking about, Facebook is a great thing. And when a young person’s on Twitter
it’s usually because they’ve got things they want to say. And it’s all in the name of ‘sharing’
so it’s not spying at all! And
when you notice people are happy, sad, worried or whatever, you can show your
interest by messaging, commenting, sending prayers or asking questions so they
know you care about what they’re on about. As youth workers although it’s
entirely possible to do without these things and just deal with people on
phones and face-to-face, I think we’re missing a unique opportunity if we’re
not also connected with our young people on Facebook/Twitter. It’s one of the main places they share
their lives openly so why wouldn’t we be interested in that?
Like 3: Invitation
Another great
thing about Facebook (more so than Twitter) is using it to invite people to
stuff. Set up an event page, make
it look awesome and then start telling everyone on Facebook about it so they
can RSVP. Admittedly people on
Facebook are renowned for saying they’ll come to stuff when all they mean is ‘I
like the sound of that’ but it’s a useful indicator of who’s at least
interested in what you’re putting on.
I still do flyers as well but it’s got to the stage where I’m convinced
people pay more attention to me on Facebook than they do to the bits of paper I
hand out. And it’s not just
events. Recently, my friend
skateboarded 1000km across Holland to raise money for LIV Village. I spent half
an hour inviting 1300 people to consider giving online and something like an extra
£150 was donated as a result. Not
overwhelming but definitely worth half an hour!
Like 4: Integrity
This one is
debated among some youth workers.
Some say we should stay off Facebook or go on it with a fake name so
we’re not found by young people.
Some youth workers even have two Facebook identities – one for adult
friends and one for connecting with their young people. Others use Twitter instead because it
only shares a few words at a time and they wouldn’t want young people seeing
all their photos of them having fun with their friends. I have to say all this makes me feel
disappointed. If we don’t want to
be hypocrites leading double lives with double standards in physical reality,
why would we do it online? Our
integrity as youth workers should mean that we don’t have anything in our
public life that we should want to hide from our young people. They’re not stupid. They’ll find out what you get up to one
way or the other and you’ll be influencing them if they look up to you at all. The best thing is when youth workers
model life-sharing on Facebook so young people can know them better and see
what it looks like to share well.
Like 5: Influence
People are
influencing each other all the time on Facebook and Twitter. When things ‘trend’ it’s because
millions of people are paying attention to something. But it’s not just about trending. As youth workers serving Jesus, we care about influencing
and leading individuals and sharing things that will help them. I know one youth worker in Exeter who
reads his Bible every day and shares one line on Facebook each time summing up
what he’s read and how it applies so people in his group (and others) can see
it. As for me, I’ve been blogging
my way through Mark’s gospel for a while and tweeting links to every new post so
people on Twitter and Facebook get pointed to the Bible. I’m not reaching millions but I do know
that 22 people read my last article and that’s a lot better than keeping it to
myself. When Jesus gave us the
great commission, I think he had the Facebook nation in mind as well as
everywhere else.
Dislike 1: People!
The best and
worst thing about Facebook and Twitter is the people. People are a mixed bag and it doesn’t change when they’re
online. People online can be
fascinating, fun, thoughtful, kind and compassionate human beings but they can
also be offensive, idiotic, boring and cruel bullies. Lonely young people post their mobile numbers regularly
because they’re so desperate for attention. Spiteful people slag others off publicly on their
walls. Celebrities tweet
mind-numbingly useless information for sheer vanity, knowing millions will read it because they’re famous. There’s a real sadness and brokenness about it because it’s
full of people.
Dislike 2: Junk
How many times
have I been on Facebook and seen yet another group called ‘Let’s get a million
people to join and Steve will shave off all his body hair!’ or something like
that? What a waste of time! I guess it’s a cry for community but
it’s no substitute.
Dislike 3: Fronts
People can be
whoever they want online and this is liberating but usually in the worst
possible way. People are too big
for their boots when they comment or tweet things they’d never dream of saying
face-to-face. Or they take photos
of themselves and photoshop it to portray a version of themselves that is
exaggerated or false. Sometimes it’s done for obvious fun and that’s fine but
sometimes it’s fake and people are lying to others and themselves about who
they really are and what they really want to say.
Dislike 4: Secrecy
Youth workers
have to think about Child Protection and develop and follow policies that help
keep people safe. Secrecy online
between a youth worker and a young person where no records are kept is as
inappropriate as meeting them one-to-one in a bedroom somewhere with the door
closed. Private message conversations can easily be had on Facebook and
deleting them is an easy trap to fall into, especially if you like a nice tidy
‘inbox’ but we must resist the urge.
False accusations can be quickly cleared up and proven false if the
transcript is there but if it’s not, it can lead to trouble.
Dislike 5: Distraction
Too many people
would rather deal with people online than in person. Face-to-face or even phone conversation is so much better
when it comes to significant conversation. And the number of times I see people in public ignoring each
other to look at their mobile devices is incredibly sad. The irony is that Facebook and
Twitter are about connecting to people but they can also distract us from
opportunities to truly and deeply do so.
Conclusion
Facebook and
Twitter (like all other forms of communication) are essentially about people sharing
stuff and that is the single best and worst thing about them. People are made in the image of God and
are valuable so Facebook and Twitter provide opportunities to share their lives
and care for others. But people
are also sinful and broken so Facebook and Twitter fill up with this stuff
too. Like any other forum, we need
to mentally filter everything we absorb in order to get the best from it and so
that we can put our best in. God
came all the way down right into our messy world as a human being to rescue
people. The least we can do is
wade through the mess online if it means connecting to people meaningfully. It could even save lives.
