I'm Surpised By The Potential of Facebook To Connect People

I had lunch with my friend, Renee, today.  We hadn’t seen each other for close to 16 years.  She lives in California and I live here in beautiful Oak Lawn, Illinois where we last saw the sun sometime in the summer of 2006.  (At least that’s what it feels like, lately.)

We never decided that we didn’t want to be friends or anything like that. It’s just that life moves along and when you don’t live in the same area and don’t see each other regularly through work or church or some type of frequently shared activity it isn’t easy or convenient to keep a friendship going.

We re-connected again through a mutual friend on Facebook.  She was in town and we got together (at Panera Bread where Renee noticed that everybody knows me—I wonder why that is?) and caught up on what’s been happening over the past 16 years. 

I have to say, up until a few months ago, I had been skeptical about the “relational value” of on-line, social networking sites. A big part of that was ignorance, I simply wasn’t participating in them and wasn’t really interested in participating in them, so I didn’t know. But another reason for my skepticism was the fact that I didn’t understand the potential that on-line social networking sites have for connecting or, perhaps, more accurately re-connecting people.

This potential to connect people all over the world, through the technology of the Internet, is something that has never happened before in human history—the technological ability for it hasn’t existed—and I have to say that it’s very interesting. Folks, I believe we really are living through something that, it’s fair to say, is revolutionary.

You’re probably thinking, “There goes Dan with some more caffeine-fueled hyperbole.”

Well, you’re right about the caffeine.  But I don’t consider what I said to be much of an exaggeration.  Think about it: Renee and I would have, probably, never seen each other or spoken to each other ever again for the rest of our lives without this connecting tool.  Not because we were opposed to the idea or angry with each other.  It’s just how it would have been.  No doubt, this is only one of thousands or perhaps millions of similar stories.

What does it all mean?  Well, at the most basic level it obviously means that connections and re-connections of people that would have never happened at earlier times in history will now occur.  Beyond that, I don’t know for sure what it will mean.

I hope it will have big consequences for proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. I believe that it can.  But I have become convinced that it is a big deal.  I know there will be people who will minimize the depth and authenticity and intimacy of relationships that occur through the technology of the Internet and it’s true that these types of relationships have limitations.  But that does not diminish the significance of the unprecedented potential for connection.

This is not a commercial for Facebook, or any of the other on-line social networking sites, they don’t need one.  (Although if someone from Facebook is reading this and wants to reimburse me for these insightful thoughts I am open to negotiating a fair and reasonable 6-digit sum.)  Actually, if you’re reading this you probably already agree that Facebook is pretty neat. So, this isn’t a plug, I’m simply sharing the observations and the experience of someone who is surprised and impressed with a potential for connecting people that has never before existed in this way and on this level.