Facebook TMI

I haven’t seen any of the FB activity that this lady talks about, but I agree that alot of what is said on FB has me scratchin’ my head.

What I find really interesting is when someone in a position of authority/teaching in a church talks about the movies, books, and tv they’ve been enjoying- stuff that I personally would consider to be the behavior of someone who was seriously backslidden or spiritually immature. Would you take your whole family to see [URL=http://www.kids-in-mind.com/p/perfectgetaway.htm A Perfect Getaway[/URL] , and then post it on FB, and still expect to teach a Sunday School class?

I don’t know which is worse- that people seem to be revealing their true selves online, or that people seem to be revealing their true selves online.

Unfortunately I was well-aware of this trend when it happened a couple weeks ago. Lots and lots of girlfriends posted colors, and I couldn’t help but think that the reason they were, wasn’t so much because of a sudden burst of passion for breast cancer awareness, as it was the ability to do something a little “naughty” with total immunity. Really was sad and created a lot of mental images that our brothers in Christ did not need.

[handerson] Unfortunately I was well-aware of this trend when it happened a couple weeks ago. Lots and lots of girlfriends posted colors, and I couldn’t help but think that the reason they were, wasn’t so much because of a sudden burst of passion for breast cancer awareness, as it was the ability to do something a little “naughty” with total immunity. Really was sad and created a lot of mental images that our brothers in Christ did not need.

Agreed. But of course, you know the response, right…. With a roll of the eyes and an “O, brother!” the colorful poster would respond with, “That’s THEY’RE problem. Pervs!”

My wife was expressing disgust about it the other day because a bunch of her BF friends were participating. I don’t think she normally uses FB for “the rebuking mode” but did that time. Can’t say I blame her.
But we are deep into an era where obvious things are not obvious anymore.

[Aaron Blumer] M I don’t think she normally uses FB for “the rebuking mode” but did that time. Can’t say I blame her.
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So did she then get “unfriended”?

I definitely don’t like it that people feel free to say anything they want, then when rebuked, even mildly (for something like swearing or using the F word—it is a professing Christian), they unfriend you. It’s like the freedom goes only “their way”.

I’m aware that I’m better off without so called friends like that, but it does make me wonder why this person’s spiritual leaders don’t “call down that person”.

I figure if the post is public, the ??s/rebuke can be public as well. I was told that I should have sent a PM and not post a public rebuke (it was pretty mild, actually). I was kind of thinking that this person’s pastor or pastor’s wife would make a comment—you know…a rebuke, even a mild one. Nothing that I saw. Then she unfriended me. ?? Actually she then unfriended my whole family…not just me and no one else in my family even said anything.

I’m actually quite saddened by what some people put on FB. It really reveals what they are.

Sometimes I think FB is just high school in another form.

[Susan R] Sometimes I think FB is just high school in another form.

It’s pretty bad when it gets one upset emotionally. It’s supposed to be fun! :)

I am a guy. I did not figure out what the one word postings were. I was told, and it did not conjure up any images or ideas in my fertile mind. To me it was just a sort of, “so what” response. I didn’t even get upset over it. I fail to see why others would get upset, but I accept that some did. Sometimes I find it amusing that people get upset over Facebook. Look at what it is, don’t expect it to be serious. There is a lot of stupid stuff on there, some offensive for sure, and a lot of stuff that is good. That is the nature of the internet as well. It is disappointing to see that some think of men in this way. Honestly, for this man, there were no images or unholy thoughts. Good grief.

Maybe it has to do with how long one has been out of Junior High. :) For me it’s been long enough that the whole thing bothers me more on the grounds of public decorum than anything else. It’s just sad that young women (and some older ones too, apparently) no longer instinctively know that this sort of thing demeans them and that the fun of the Facebook phenomenon doesn’t make it wise to behave that way.
I’m just old fashioned I guess. We were better off as a society when certain things just weren’t talked about in mixed company.

[Aaron Blumer] Maybe it has to do with how long one has been out of Junior High. :) For me it’s been long enough that the whole thing bothers me more on the grounds of public decorum than anything else. It’s just sad that young women (and some older ones too, apparently) no longer instinctively know that this sort of thing demeans them and that the fun of the Facebook phenomenon doesn’t make it wise to behave that way.
I’m just old fashioned I guess. We were better off as a society when certain things just weren’t talked about in mixed company.

Well said, Aaron. As another godly woman once remarked when walking through the mall, “I sure wish Victoria would keep more things secret!”

is this color thing any worse than silliness around boxers vs. briefs? i don’t see how posting a color accomplishes anything, but most of facebook is only about silliness and wasting time. seriously, if you’re getting turned on by reading the name of a color, you need your head examined.

[ChrisC] is this color thing any worse than silliness around boxers vs. briefs? i don’t see how posting a color accomplishes anything, but most of facebook is only about silliness and wasting time. seriously, if you’re getting turned on by reading the name of a color, you need your head examined.

On the other hand, if one thinks it no big deal for Christian women to be posting the color of their underwear, then that person needs their head examined. Whether it is a computer or a chair, it isn’t the thing itself as much as it is how we use it. Some folks use FB to be a spiritual encouragement to others and pass along prayer requests- it can be a real benefit instead of a frivolous waste of time.

The whole boxers vs briefs thing told alot about the character of the people involved, and I think that is the issue at hand. We have a responsibility to not only guard our own hearts and minds, but to observe Biblical principles such as Titus 2:8 “…Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.” And I don’t think it helpful or compassionate to be disdainful of the weaknesses of others.

Just want to note that people are not all the same. Men are not all the same. I side with those who say that sort of posting is not appropriate (especially the writer of the essay linked in the first post) because for some men this sort of thing is a snare, especially when the women in involved are people they work and/or serve with every day. The writer of the essay assumes this is a problem for a large number of men. I wouldn’t know. But there does not need to be a large number for the behavior to be properly labeled foolish. But I’m also coming at it with sort of Victorian attitudes about conversation. It’s bad manners. Self respecting women should consider it beneath their dignity. I don’t think our age is suffering from an excess of self-respect among women.

Either of these factors is enough to justify being down on the whole business. As it is, we have both.

I read the article and wondered how that lady had seen the discussion I had with my Facebook friends. Is a woman behaving with modesty and self-control when she - for all practical purposes - waltzes into a “room” filled with her friends and family and announces what color underwear she’s wearing? And how is this respectful of her male friends who, having no idea why random colors have begun appearing on statuses, decide to chime in with a color of their own? I had two young men in my friends roster do this, who were immediately ridiculed for essentially announcing that they wore women’s undergarments.

From my Facebook:

I just think there are better ways to encourage women to take care of themselves without encouraging them to expose themselves. And if the myriad hot pink ribbons and hot pink everything else around us doesn’t do it, I don’t know what will.