A Bitter Cup of Joe or Beware the Evils of Facebook!

I woke up this morning at my usual ungodly hour to my daily helping of Morning Joe on the television. I keep it on most mornings as I prepare myself to face the day. As I wiped the sleep crud form my eyes and attempted to arrange my thoughts in some sort of cohesive order, Joe Scarborough was talking about an editorial he wrote about the dark, civilization crushing side of Facebook for Politico.

You can find the rant, I mean editorial, here.

The thread of contention that intertwines Mr. Scarborough's piece is that Facebook is "cynically feeding the narcissistic appetites of a self-consumed culture that is populated by teenage vulgarians, desperate housewives, and bored men."

Does he have a point? Maybe. Is it fantastically overstated? Definitely.

I have been a Facebook user for a few years now. There are many reasons I signed up and still maintain an active account, and none of them are mentioned in Mr. Scarborough's grumpy-old-mantastic rant.

I initially signed up because a friend of mine from a summer camp I worked at when I was in college sent me an email and told me people were jumping on Facebook to plan a reunion. So for the first time I logged in and signed up. It was good to be communicating with folks I had not seen in a few years, to see what they were up to and where they were hanging their hats now. Then I began to receive friend requests from old friends from high school whom I had not seen or talked to in almost ten years. I thought it was great. An easy way to get back and stay in touch with people I don't get the chance to see everyday.

On Facebook I sought out friends I have who live in New Zealand, Australia, China, Mexico, and Germany. It is awesome to have a free way to stay in touch with them, to see how their families are doing. We can reminisce about the old days or trade opinions about the issues of the day. We can share important news, celebrate accomplishments, commiserate in times of sorrow.

Politically speaking, I am a fairly moderate Independent. I have Facebook friends that are fiercely loyal Democrats and Facebook friends that are fiercely loyal Republicans. I even have several Libertarian friends thrown in the mix for good measure. I will from time to time post an article from a magazine or a blog, or post a politically motivated question or status update on my wall. My friends will often comment from their particular seat of opinion. A debate often emerges. I love that I have such a diversity of friendships on Facebook that enables me to learn so much about the key points on all sides of an issue. We have great conversations in the comment threads that develop, the number of comments for a few hot button type posts have reached well into the hundreds.

I use Facebook to learn, to laugh, to write, and to share. Share thoughts, share music, share videos, share needs, share victories, share defeats. Scarborough's assertion that people who spend time on Facebook are wasting their time would be insulting if it weren't so far off base as to be laughable.

I do not doubt that there are people out there who fit into his narrow minded view of what the average Facebook user is like. But that is hardly Facebook's fault. A guest on the show this morning likened Scarborough's rant to those parents and leaders who declared the death of morality and of modern society with the coming of Elvis or The Beatles. The rant reminded me of John Lithgow's character in Footloose. The stodgy stick in the mud clinging to an outdated or distorted view of the way things should be.

As a teacher and a parent I can appreciate Joe's concerns about the dangers of Facebook. But as long as parents educate themselves about Facebook and pass on what they learn to their children, as long as they stay active and involved with their children's interactions on Facebook, as long as they set clear expectations about their children's time on Facebook and back up those expectations with firm consequences if needed, then Joe's vision of the snarling beast that is Facebook, feasting on the innocence of our children, can be put down.

This is not some radical new shift in parenting that has to occur because Facebook is such a horrible atrocity. It is what good, effective parents have done and continue to do for their children in all areas of life.

I am quite interested to know what you think, fair reader. Feel free to comment. Let's strike up a conversation. Do you agree with Joe Scarborough that Facebook is a "ubiquitous social machine" that only teenage vulgarians, desperate housewives, or bored men flock to and waste their lives away on? Do you agree with me that Facebook is not the end of civilization as we know it, that it is in fact a tool that can make your social interactions richer, not more anemic? Or do you fall somewhere in between? Let's talk about it...