Communication

I was watching BBC Breakfast the other day and they were talking about New Year's resolutions. Yes it's that time of year again and yes we all know that if we make them we're more than likely to break them, so we don't really focus on making any achievable resolutions in the end.

Making and keep promises to oneself is a subject for another post. The thing that caught my ear was one person's resolution to delete themselves from Facebook. It's a topic that has raised itself over the last few months as privacy settings and security at the social networking site have come under scrutiny. There's also the issue of time spent, or time wasted depending on your perspective, on such websites. Does it have any real value? Does it help or hinder communication?

Most, if not all, of my Facebook communication arrives at the site via feeds from various other sources. I rarely interact directly with Facebook except to check the newsfeed. I also use Twitter and of course I blog away, although rather less so these days. Perhaps that's a resolution I need to make!

But here's the thing. Because of these social sites and feeds, I get to hear stuff about which I'd often be unaware. Some of it is less than helpful, some is just funny. And there are times when I've read a Twitter update or a Facebook status and stopped and prayed.

So perhaps Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, even the Saga social networking site (I'm not a member before you ask!) have a value that we sometimes forget to measure. Perhaps others would have prayed for me had I posted a simple update about the funerals I've conducted, the struggles to get my Spring plan together and the challenges of preparing and delivering Advent Celebrations.