Karisa Rivera

Facebook is a social networking site. You can sign up for free if you are over 13 years old. It started in 2004 and today has over 200 million active users. 100 million of these users access their accounts account at least once a day. Facebook says that each month, more than 850 million photos and more than 10 million videos are uploaded to the site. But the most striking figure is this: more than 4 billion minutes are devoted each day to facebook, worldwide. Facebook is a phenomenon!

If you ask me, I think Facebook has been one of the best inventions of this decade. It lets you easily connect with out-of-town relatives, childhood friends, old colleagues, etc. I enjoy watching photos and videos of  friends and their families. Through Facebook, important and urgent news can be quickly spread. But my favorite part is to send someone a message without going crazy looking for the email address! And even better, I can send a message to several people at the same time, and have others answer back – all in one place!

But like every good thing that doesn’t come from the Bible, we must use it with much caution and wisdom. We’ve all heard stories of people losing their jobs due to  Facebook abuse, mothers abandoning their responsibilities at home because of an addiction to Facebook, and young people uninterested in physical activities because they need to be ‘connected’.

The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down. Proverbs 14:1

It is our sole responsibility that the use of facebook builds our lives, not destroys it. Here are a few tips that can help you get the best out of Facebook
1. define the purpose of your use of Facebook, and stick to it!
2. make your own Facebook rules
3. limit your time in Facebook, especially if you feel you waste too much time there.
 Finally, when you feel that you have nothing else to do and you think Facebook is the answer, reevaluate. Be honest. Have you fulfilled your purpose on facebook for the day? If the answer is yes, then go on with your life – outside of  Facebook!

Different people have different reasons for using facebook. For me, I like to know what my out-of-town relatives are up to. I like to know what God is doing in various churches in other countries. I like to promote the activities for my church. I like to promote my husband’s business. I like to share my blog with other people. I like to share sites that may encourage or warn others.

These are my rules for Facebook.

• Only invite and accept invitations from people whom I personally know, or someone who is related to someone I know.
• By no means will I accept someone I don’t know, especially men.
• I do not use or accept any application that doesn’t go according to my goals outlined above.
• I absolutely reject all invitations of any applications not relevant to my goals on Facebook. (including applications of biblical verses – but I do appreciate when someone takes the time to write and send me a message with a Bible verse)
• I’ve never filled out a test (or quiz) and never will, about my favorite drink, my childhood’s favorite character, etc.  At this time in my life I have many responsibilities as a real-life person to be wasting not one second on this stuff.
• I join groups and causes that are only relevant to my life.
• I browse through photos I want to see and read what interests me. I don’t stop to view each and every picture that comes up in my feed.  
• I limit my leisure Facebook use to a few minutes in the morning and in evening time, on days when I have the time (I also use facebook to post things for my church and husband’s business – but this is work, not leisure time). During the day, I may log on but only to quickly see how’s life on Facebook.
• I lose sleep over thinking how Facebook could be used to fulfilling the Great Commission ♥.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Matthew 28: 19-20

Photo by matt.ohara