Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Facebook guilt

I will admit that I am a converted fan of Facebook. When people first started trying to be my friend, I just ignored it (note: this is not how I approach my social life in reality). I couldn't see the point. Now, I have oodles of Facebook friends (we get around) and I check it more than once on most days. I like it because it's fun to reconnect with people I haven't seen in literally decades (wow that makes me sound old) and because I have many good friends who live around the world, and seeing their updates makes me feel like I got to talk to them a little today. Even though I didn't really.

I even like some of the applications - I use the books page to keep track of books I want to read, and once in awhile I sharpen my geography skills by playing the travel quiz. I like pieces of flair too. I don't usually say no to a piece of flair.

But here's what I will say no to - becoming a fan of something. One day in a moment of weakness and probably homesickness, I became a fan of lefse. Later I realized it really wasn't important to me to have people know that I like lefse (I'm sure half of the people reading this are thinking, "What's lefse?"). So I un-fanned myself. De-fanned?

Still, every day it seems I am presented with the option of becoming a fan of something - God, Jesus, the Bible, sleep, rainbows, puppies, Air Supply, the smell of gasoline, you name it. Here's the thing - I am not opposed to any of those things. All good. Great, in fact. I love God. And Jesus. But I just don't feel compelled to publicly labely myself a fan. This is nothing against those of you who are fans of something on Facebook. More power to ya, especially if you're a fan of Petra (notice how I slipped that 80's Christian rock band reference in there).

Unfortunately, it leaves me with that sense of guilt, like how I feel when I don't forward emails that admittedly "touched my heart." It's like I'm some kind of cold hearted grinch. Hitting the ignore button when people invite me to be a fan of "hugs" feels like slamming the door in the face of Girl Scouts selling cookies. Am I the only one who feels this way?

3 comments:

Joanna said...

I've listed myself as a fan of a few bands but i haven't become a facebook fan of God/Jesus. It seems to cheapen faith when it becomes just another thing on your facebook page next to some random pop band and your favorite food.

Four Buttons said...

I'm very selective about what I'm a fan of, and I'm glad you're not a super fan...I think I'm a fan of krispy kreme in singapore, sarah palin, and tea parties. Obviously I feel strongly politically and about donuts. i'm glad you like facebook, b/c i like connecting with you through it...oh and i miss you tons! glad china was such a good trip! am praying for your move to go smoothly, i know there's a ton that goes into that, love ya!

Starlene said...

I didn't know you were on FB. I'll have to send you a friend request and hope you don't ignore it. ;-) I ignore almost all my requests (except for 2 applications that I do sometimes). I don't really feel bad about ignoring stuff b/c I don't think the people who send the requests are really keeping track. I think I might be a fan of a few things but I don't really pay much attention, to be honest.