Social Networking

As with anything that has tremendous potential to be used for good, it has the tragic flip side of also being the causation for evil as well. I guess that really is just the sort of world we live in. I mean as believers this shouldn’t surprise us. That is, God created good and then Satan’s counterfeit is just a perversion of the good God created, not a new entity unto itself.

Anyways, I see social networking as having tremendous gains and losses for the betterment and determent of our world. As a society we’ve never been able to so readily connect and communicate with virtually anyone in the world at any time.

(side thought) I wonder if when Thomas Edison created the telephone, an incredible feat as that was, if he could ever imagine in his wildest dreams that one day humanity would have the ability to instantaneously communicate via email, skype, instant messaging, and what not with out an elapse in time or wire to connect the two. I’m sure that would totally blow his mind as it does mine still.

Another wonderful advantage of social networking is its uses in academia. I personally am thrilled to be able to cut back on the waste of using so much excess paper and other materials. It’s interesting, in my organic chemistry lab, we’ve reduced the amount of chemicals used in the lab by 95%! I’m so thrilled by this! I really wonder why we didn’t think to do this so much sooner. It’s sad how it often takes a wake up call like news that our natural rainforests are close to depletion to get our attention.

Though I realize there are still many more advantages as to why social networking is incredible, but I will not express some of my concerns. First of all, above anything else, I see social networking as being a horrendous time sink for most people.  I see people wasting an ungodly number of hours everyday as they follow various rabbit trails starting on one internet sits and finally looking at the very thing they wanted to see 20 internet sites later.  I also don’t like how we often now pouring more time into our virtual relationship online than investing quality time in the real relationships in our immediate lives that matter most. I think social networking has created a sort of virtual world that many of spend more tine in than our real world and what does it produce? We have more people feeling isolate, depressed and alone as ever! I really believe there is a connection.

Well there is still so much more that could be said on this topic. These are just some of my immediate feelings with regards to this subject. For everyone social networking is something different. For some people, I believe it is an incredible tool that truly betters their lives. For other, well….I have some grave questions.