Why I like Facebook

I am a Facebook guy. I enjoy a comfy chair and spending time scrolling through screen after screen looking for things that capture my attention. It makes me part of a cozy community of 2.7 billion people worldwide who visit the site/app each month.

For all of its popularity, Facebook is also widely criticized. Many people credit it with being part of society’s problems with how we view each other and ourselves. Others believe it is part of a social reprogramming effort. They avoid it because of its powers of broad reach and ability to profoundly influence the minds of its users.

I believe that Facebook is incredibly powerful, but not from a conspiracy-to-alter-reality kind of perspective. It has a unique ability to immerse you in whatever your eyes are drawn to.

If you scroll through your feed, you may expect to find update after update from your “friends”. My last count shows that these posts account for 50% of my feed. The rest is advertisements. It is an incredible amount of paid content and exceeds any other platform that I can think of. If you don’t believe me, count yours. From the people I’ve seen who tried, they got similar ratios.

In order to keep people engaged in all these commercials, Facebook seems to closely monitor which posts you pause on and gives a special priority to any that you click. They match what will show up in your future stream based on what captured your attention previously. It is a powerful way to captivate audiences and influence the way you think.

Which gave me pause to think. Could Facebook be used for good? Could the world’s largest social media platform become a source of encouragement and inspiration that raises the spirits of its users? Is it a tool of enormous power that could be good or evil based on how it is used?

I put it to the test.

As anyone who regularly reads my posts is aware, I am a work in-process. God has done a lot in and through me, but he has a lot of work left to do. I am painfully aware of many of my shortcomings. This blog is an effort to improve me and the world, making it more like the kingdom God has imagined.

If Facebook can adapt to my habits, can it be used to build me up? Can it find and stream content that encourages me?

One at a time, I began to avoid images or messages that I don’t want to surround me. I tried to scroll as quickly as possible past anything condescending, judgmental, angry, or mean. Then I took the time to look at and reflect on things that give me pleasure, hoping that Facebook would do the hard work of figuring out a pattern and finding more content for me.

It has worked. Over time, a few themes began to emerge. Anyone who views my stream would see a pattern that reflects my struggles and what I am choosing to do about them.

A few screenshots from today’s feed indicate who I aspire to be.

I love to build things. It is one of the ways God allows me to influence the world. However, I am not highly creative and require a lot of inspiration. I love to watch people who have amazing talents build things to see how they do it. Then I make mental notes to copy later. Facebook found Crafty Panda and similar sources who show in fast-motion how a project was completed. It is amazing to see people all over the world build beautiful, amazing things in less than 5 minutes. It encourages me to pursue big dreams.

I am a fan of “the best”. I love to see the amazing abilities God has given to people in all kinds of different areas, whether it is athletics, arts, entertainment, or industry. Stuff like Mental Floss introduces me to the odd facts that humanize these people of enormous talent. I already know their accomplishments, but this presents their humanity. It shows me how much we have in common and reminds me that God can do just as much through me.

I love superheroes. They possess enormous power and are dedicated to using their abilities to save others regardless of the risk to their own lives. They shun lives of opulence and choose to place themselves between unfathomable danger and people they may have never met or who have tried to harm them. I know that they aren’t real, but their creators are. They imagined the noble heart of a Superman and a Batman whose pain drives inspires him to protect his city. They tell stories of people who step into their moments and make a difference. I want to live like that.

There have been so many mornings that Kim comes downstairs and says “You’re listening to the Crazy Russia Hacker again, aren’t you?” It’s a rhetorical question, she knows his voice almost as well as I do. I love how he look at the little things that surround him differently. Some people are blessed with the ability to shake off preconceived notions and look at things in a new and different way each day. I want to see my life as surrounded by infinite possibilities, where any small thing can be a solution or an adventure. I want to find wisdom and joy in the everyday objects and situations of my life.

Movies have always had a special place for me. They were first a family outing when I was a child then a getaway with my teenage friends or on a date night, and later as a popcorn-filled treat with my kids. I love to laugh and cry, to sit in breathless anticipation, and believe beyond hope that everything will work out in the end. These reminders keep the joys of my past within easy reach, as available as a warm blanket on a cold night.

Certainly not the least, but sometimes the hardest to find, are the special moments in the lives of people I care about. They are glimpses into the hearts and souls of the ones I am blessed to walk this life with. These are vitamins for my day, fortifying me for the challenges that lie ahead. I am profoundly thankful to be able to share these fleeting moments that happen in a glimpse and are too-soon gone. Loving my neighbor is so much easier when I get to see their love of life.

This is not an advertisement for Facebook or any other social media. Use it or don’t use it. It is a reminder that our eyes are the windows to our soul and that the images we fill them with will determine how we view the world around us. The inputs we receive from the people, television programming, news feeds, and social media in our lives all come with a choice – Is this what I choose to see in life?

Older and wiser people continue to remind me to select what I allow into my life and not become a victim of it. Years of careful selection are like choosing the stones to build your home. It takes time to find just the right pieces, but their effect is enduring.

Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.
Proverbs 4:23

I used to read this verse as a warning of things to avoid. Now I see it as an encouragement to choose those things that I surround my heart with. I want to select the sentinels of my soul with intention.

There is so much good out there. Seek it like a lost treasure. Allow it to envelop and influence you. Let it course through your veins and build you into the person you want to become.

Then go out and become someone else’s positive feed.