Why I Don’t Facebook or Twitter

Okay, so I said that I would primarily use this blog for updates about our new church plant. And I intend to do that. But many people who want to follow what we’re doing keep asking me if I’m on Facebook or Twitter. And when I tell them “no,” they often think I’m a bit weird since it seems that everyone my age is now on Facebook and/or Twitter.

So, in just a few words, I’ll try to explain why I haven’t taken the plunge.

First, a disclaimer. Most of my friends and even my family are on Facebook or Twitter. So, no disrespect to them. They can keep updating and Tweeting away and that’s fine with me. But, why don’t I Facebook or Twitter? Here are a few reasons:

1. I would end up wasting a lot of time online. I already waste a lot of time online. Checking email, reading blogs, catching the news…some of that’s good and helpful, but much of it is a time-waster. Adding the temptation of Facebook or Twitter would just make it much worse.

2. These mediums have the tendency to make me narcissitic. I start getting focused on telling people what I’m doing all the time…usually stuff that’s unimportant to them. If something is really important, and someone is close enough to me that I want them to know, then I’ll tell them. But constantly updating my page or Twittering about my day tends to keep the focus on me, which is never a good thing.

3. Twitter and Facebook also make me more image conscious. Don’t get me wrong, we’re always mindful of what others think about us from what we wear to how we talk and the cars we drive. But these online tools seem to really empower me to create a false, or at least incomplete, image of myself to project to others.

4. It’s just not a good form of communication for me. We would all agree that talking to someone in person is the best way to communicate. But that’s not always possible, so using the phone or email is often necessary. Yet Facebook and Twitter, for me, seem to be one more step away from good forms of communication. And being slightly introverted, my tendency would be to rely mostly on these poor forms of communication to the neglect of better ones.

5. Facebook and Twitter especially breeds sloppy writing, sloppy reading, and even sloppy thinking. When I have to articulate something in 140 characters or less, I don’t write well, it forces me to communicate in bite-size chunks, and then I begin only reading and thinking in bite-size chunks. (The internet itself is a chief culprit of this dynamic.) But life isn’t this way. It’s complex and requires deeper thought and explanation. And in light of my job as a pastor and writer – reflecting on and communicating truth – this is very unhelpful.

6. It’s addicting. I know too many people who are consumed by constantly checking Facebook or Twitter. Or some whose first thought whenever they do something cool is: “I’ve got to Twitter about this.” Instead of enjoying the actual experience and people they are physically with, they are more obsessed with how they are going to tell others about it.

So…there you have it. Lots of lofty philosophical convictions that are probably a bit overcooked.

To be honest, I’m the first to admit that there are some good uses for Facebook and Twitter. Janis Facebooks and I’m often sucked into reading her page. In fact, she actually keeps me up to date on what my friends are doing! But, personally, for the few benefits I gain, I believe the liabilities are greater, so it’s easier for me to just keep life simple and be Facebook and Twitter-less for now.