What a ride! When I joined facebook, someone commented on my wall, “unreal, Pastor Mark has facebook.” Indeed. Note the prefix attached to my name; superglued. I predicted that it would be a bumpy ride since I thought people would not really want me as a facebook friend. To my surprise, I grew to have over 90 friends. Thank You for confirming me!
I stopped smoking at age 15 when my mother caught me and yelled at me; so I escaped addiction. In one short month I have become addicted to facebook. I hear yelling in my conscience. Escape.
More importantly, I have decided that I don’t like getting to know my real friends via facebook news feeds. As I see it, our manners are out the window. I mean, on facebook my friends sometimes express themselves in gross written vocabulary that they would never use in a real conversation with me, or maybe with anyone. What happened to dignity? I also sometimes see photos of my tagged friends that I know they would not want to share with me. Of course they would be embarrassed. I don’t want to see that stuff either. I don’t want to get to know you that way. I don’t want to know about my friend’s recklessness through someone else’s camera at a cheap, vulnerable moment. I don’t want to inadvertently think less of anyone. If my friends want to share their escapades with me, then I prefer it to be personal and voluntary as in a natural flow of relationship.
The main bump in the road, however, is that my own facebook sharings seem to be frequently misunderstood. Maybe it’s an vocational hazard thing, or it’s that my personality or individual style is not compatible with whatever facebook is supposed to be. Maybe I just can’t get the hang of it. Oh well. I never meant to threaten anyone. From the bottom of my heart: sorry.
Well, if you can handle it, “Pastor” is not my first name. I have a life, a history, and many human interests outside of N. Woods Mill. I enjoy all different kinds of people of all ages. My attitudes fluctuate between my childhood and my current age of 56, and I just cannot help it. I am extremely light and extremely serious, and I cannot hide either one.
People say that I cannot be effective with people without facebook. It is the new and better way -- a must in today’s world. Ok, maybe I am risking a lot, but I am going retro.
I hope you will continue to be my friend. Please don’t hesitate to call me or shoot me an email. I love every one of you. I’ll also be happy to meet you at Burger King or Growler’s. Dig. Thanks, Felix, for all the chats; you’re awesome.
Sorry this took so long to explain.
Mark
