Christian Leadership Alliance
| 
1 of 2
Online Connections
What one super-blogger learned by giving up social networking for Lent.| Outcomes, Fall 2009
Blogging. Facebook. Twitter. Those three things are practically my middle name. I've been called a "social media butterfly" over the past four years.
The question "Can community happen online?" has recently been the topic of conversation on my blog, FlowerDust.net, and has also been asked wherever I go—at conferences, at churches, and yes, even at the local café where by chance a random blog reader might recognize me.
During my four years as the leader of a growing and thriving blog, I've seen incredible things happen. I've seen believers and unbelievers unite in generously donating over $200,000 to social justice causes. I've seen people openly discuss taboo subjects: pornography, depression, anxiety, gay lifestyles, and theologically gray topics.
In some instances, these online conversations have translated into personal communication (by e-mail, chats, or phone), and some have even turned into face-to-face meetings. The platforms of social media certainly give personal interactions a jumpstart, so to speak, because you do, in some regard, know bits and pieces of the other person's life.
But this is where it gets muddy for me. Is it community?
Given my experience living in both worlds, it may be surprising to hear, but I am beginning to lean on the side of no: what happens online is not community.
Now please hear me out: I believe what happens online is connection—not community. People can be vulnerable and honest online. At times these online connections can be more life-giving than our offline relationships, but they are not the same.
During Lent this year, I chose to close my blog down. I also didn't Twitter or update my Facebook profile. I still kept up with e-mail and chatted with some friends, but for those few weeks my social networking was put on hold. And during this time, I learned a lot about how my online habits both enhanced and detracted from my spiritual walk and my community with others.
After unplugging for Lent, for the first few days, I felt out of touch with almost everybody. They could live 2,000 miles away or have an office 50 feet from mine. I discovered that I was relying too heavily on social media to give me the life stories of those in my circle. When it came to people I see every day, I realized that I was putting too much stock into "knowing" them simply based on what they placed on their Twitter feed or Facebook profile or blog. A girl I know found out she and her husband were expecting a child. I was clueless because I had never picked up the phone to ask her how she had been doing.
635 Camino de los Mares, Suite 216, San Clemente, CA 92673 · (949) 487-0900