Facebook recently celebrated its tenth birthday, thus entering its tween years. Tools such as the networking site have been around long enough that we’ve started to make judgments about whether this whole new world is healthy or unhealthy. What’s it doing to us? I tend to read articles and books about the trends in culture. I know that there’s an increasing amount of thought out there on the pluses and minuses of social media. Let me add my two cents!

Spoiler alert: I stand with Pope Francis!

I’ve been reading Sherry Turkle’s provocative 2011 book, Alone Together – Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. Her point is that our relentless connection leads to a new solitude. She writes of the “illusion of companionship,” arguing that we are confusing tweets and wall posts with authentic communication. She is quite worried about how the use of the internet has so much power to isolate and destroy relationships.

That’s one angle on the influence of the internet and social media. We can all recount stories of the neighbour, niece, stranger or student who falls prey to the unhealthy side of these tools. But we also know that there are many commentators writing about the more healthy benefits. Talia Bronstein, writing in depict, a Canadian periodical, says, “While some argue that connectedness to social media may be harming our real-life relationships, increasing our feelings of loneliness, and reducing our mental-health outcomes, others are saying that social media is just one small piece of the mental-health puzzle. The jury is still out on whether social media is helping or harming our mental health.” She goes on to illustrate the healthy and unhealthy sides to social media.

If we are paying attention to our use of these tools, I think that we know and experience both sides of the argument. I certainly know the experience of going through my friends’ and family members’ Facebook postings and thinking, “Shoot! Am I the only one not having fun or doing something exciting? Why is my life so boring?” But I also have the experience of feeling very connected to people I like and haven’t seen in a while. My Facebook friends are real people that I know in some way.

I disagree with Turkle’s “illusion of companionship.” I find it very helpful to get interesting links to news and articles, reports of a new posting on a blog and family photos. I think of my Facebook friends as keeping an eye out for something they think I’d find interesting. But, I know that I am discerning. If I am interested in something, I pay attention. If I am not interested, I move on. Thus, I ignore any invitations to play mindless games. I ignore postings about cute kittens and puppies. I perk up when I see a link to an interesting article about running, the Church, Pope Francis, my favourite authors or any of my other areas of interest.

I’m in good company in seeing the benefits of social media. In his message for the 48th World Day of Social Communications, Pope Francis speaks of communication being at the service of “an authentic culture of encounter.” He suggests that the new communications tools can help us to feel closer to one another. He is well aware that problems do exist, but he says, “The internet, in particular, offers immense possibilities for encounter and solidarity. This is something truly good, a gift from God.” Francis explains that the internet and social media can help the Church to “reach for the peripheries of human existence.”

The Pope has often referred to the need for “a bruised Church which goes out to the streets” where people live and where they can be reached. He says,  “The digital highway is one of them, a street teeming with people who are often hurting, men and women looking for salvation or hope. By means of the internet, the Christian message can reach to the ends of the earth.” Toward the end of the document Pope Francis exhorts us: “Let us boldly become citizens of the digital world. The Church needs to be concerned for, and present in, the world of communication, in order to dialogue with people today and to help them encounter Christ.” Challenging words for all of us!

Perhaps I can write at greater length about this aspect, but a significant help for us in relating to social media is Saint Ignatius of Loyola’s notion of discernment. Also, he has this notion that we are to make use of all tools that help with the praise, reverence and service of God, and we must rid ourselves of them “in as far as they prove a hindrance.” Meanwhile, let’s keep the conversation going.