No one was prepared before it all became too accessible to everyone. I remember, having an internet at home was a social symbol and renting a computer with a dial-up costed a fortune way back then. We used nicknames to keep our identities safe and one professor advised us to at least give one little lie in our information to keep our identities safe and so no one will determine that it is really us. It does make sense before because now we give every accurate information. We honestly even tell how we feel and what we ate. Now the battle is not to give too much information.
The Church inevitably are using these social media since it is becoming too accessible, too inexpensive, and nowadays, it is frequently used by the 20th century generation. We use the social media effectively for our organisation, businesses and some just use it primarily to stay connected with their family and friends. (I would like to say that the aforementioned are my purposes.)
Now on the other side, some use it inappropriately and simply to vent out. So immature.
Here are some thoughts I gathered from the humble people who studied Communications and have been in the Communication Field, including myself, for quite some time:
(This image is taken from here.)
1) Communication is a Process. The elements includes the Source, the Receiver, the Message, the Channel and the Feedback. So you are the Source and you use the Social Media as the Channel to send Messages and information to your Receivers which are your friends. Your Receivers decodes your message. This is why most of us Communication experts believe that what you tweet or post is who you are. Yes. We judge you by your tweets and posts. Yes. Investigators and Detectives use your social media contents to prove a crime. Yes. There are numerous studies about behaviours based on what you tweet and post.
2) The Social Media provided ways for us to communicate privately by using the Direct or Personal Messaging. Please use it more often to communicate both your gratitude and your anger. Yes. It helps you to be away from the spotlight and intrigue.
3) Back to the Communication Process, Feedback is also an element. So whether you like the feedback or not, it is a feedback. Swallow it down to your immature thought. You can not control it. Those who keep quoting, "Do not judge or you too will be judged" are most of the time are the guilty ones. They are too afraid to be judged so they quote that verse right away to be free from judging. Funny because the book was 'read' that's why it was judged.
4) No Feedback means no Communication. Not all messages gets a feedback. It is either good or bad but it is safe. Actually, there is wisdom in not sending a feedback straight away. The Bible talks about Self-Control and Taming the Tongue. However, positive and well-thought delayed feedback is better than no feedback at all because like I said, in order to complete a Process, all elements must be intact.
5) Imagine yourself on a stage or in television whenever you use a Social Media. Well, if you have 50 to 5000 friends or followers, that's a crowd. So that's why some people use the Social Media for important announcements- you got engaged, married, pregnant, baptised, etc.
BOOM!
Look, I am not saying as a church we are not allowed to be 'real' and pretend to be happy all the time. There are just some instances that we can vent out our hurts, frustrations, disappointments and disgust in a private way. (I am hoping we all know how to cope up because that can be another topic.)
