Call me old fashioned (which is a phrase I'm using more and more these days), but the use of blogs doesn't seem to be something I've gotten excited about yet. Even when it comes to finding information, I still want to hear a voice with the comment. Better yet, I would rather discuss face to face.
I was recently waiting at the Geek counter at Best Buy for a warranty job when a young girl came up to have her laptop looked at. When she placed it on the counter, I read the sticker that she had placed on it. It read, "Don't take my computer - all my friends live in here". As I thought about that, and yes, I know it's just a sticker, but do we really want to know those who we blog with? Are they really our friends, or are we content to call them "friends" as long as they stay in our computer?
Now don't get me wrong. I know blogging is not a new thing, and if the technology would have been there, it’s just possible we would be reading the 1st and 2nd blogs to the Corinthians or Luther's 95 blogs. Today there is no doubt that blogging serves a great purpose, but I wonder if it, like all mediums, can be a double-edged sword. On one hand we have the privilege of sharing our thoughts and feelings instantly with hundreds of people, while on the other hand I fear it may be a bit of a mask for some, keeping us from truly connecting.
Like I said, I may be old fashioned, but I do want to make sure my friends have more of a life than the belly of my computer.
Jeff Cinquemani
On any other random Monday I might now have had the chance to talk with or "hear" from you... so your blog post was a nice bit of "Jeff" for my Monday morning... the conversation can be a bit one sided... but that's part of what's interesting about it...
ReplyDelete"Face to face" takes more time, something I don't have alot of . . . okay, so I have the same 24 hours that have always been there. Maybe the question of "to blog or not to blog," or "How much time do I spend on computer 'connecting'?" should be, "What is it that I'm after in spending my time with someone?" Dissemination of information (i.e. ideas, thoughts, feelings) is important but is it the ultimate end of connecting with each other? Apart from any theory of necessary atonement, what if God had been satisfied with sending a written communication to his creation, to me - "The Bible, the Ultimate Blog "? Instead, Jesus became man, "God with us" . . . what does that mean for me in my connecting with people?
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, Jeff. Blogging is fun and a great way to "keep up" with people but it shouldn't be a substitute for "pressing the flesh" . . . In the end, the power of God resides in the people and presence of God (Acts 1:8), not just in words on a page.
Luther's 95 Thesis blog? Sure it was! unfortunately he did not have the fast response (feedback) we've got today, if it was a blockbuster with those medieval gitzmos, not to mention the curvatious and indecipherable gothic fonts, how big an outburst it would have been with today's tech!. Jesuits would have used it effectively, too as well as Nazis, or any other sort of evil. So, this forces will be mutually checking the balance of their influence, and we, the messangers, keepers of the flame, are now forced, obliged, if you do not mind I saying so, to counterbalance the use that the other side will surely make of this medium. I am not only referring to doctrinal blogging, in spite proselitist blogging is obnoxious to me, I am talking about networking, blogging, facebooking with our kindness, loving care, sense of humor, positive thoughts, tiny sparks of our characters transformed by the love of Christ. So let's flood blog spots with that, as the apostle Paul said it: We are blogs written by God to be read by others.
ReplyDeleteAt this moment I am in South America, a long business trip, I hope you may be comfortable (is there room enough? I can add up some extra bytes) in the belly of my laptop meanwhile, because is gonna take few weeks before contacting face-to-face again. On the other hand, I am with you, a personal touch is way much better than keyboard and mouse clicks. See you soon.
ReplyDeleteGotta say that I'm a little disappointed. This blog reads like an assignment rather than an attempt to connect. Sad...
ReplyDeleteInteresting . . . perceptive actually. You might have hit on something there. Please understand that I come from a counseling background so my bias is going to be toward face-to-face interaction. However, I have to admit after reading the comments here, I do find myself becoming more interested as well as accountable to the thoughts I give "blog" to. So next time, will I find myself blogging with a motivation to connect with others? Quite possilbly. Now, how do we change this "Annonymous" status?
ReplyDeleteJeff
interesting comment - "I do find myself becoming more interested as well as accountable to the thoughts I give "blog" to." You really ARE new to blogging! :) We are all accountable, even when we think people aren't watching, or even when we think the people who are watching don't matter. We are always the reflection/representation of Jesus - no matter what form of communication we use.
ReplyDeleteJost wonder what kind of "bot attack" the pope would have sent to attack Luther's computer... I guess it would have been a "Denial of Service" attack... That way no one else could read the blog... Or maybe everyone that logged in to read the blog got a "Trojan Horse"...
ReplyDeleteGlad I'm Anonymous..
There definitely are inherent limitations in any form on online communicating, although there are also benefits. Yet, choosing the medium for communication is not entirely up to us (the church). In spite of any issues we may have with this type of communication, it is one of the types that the current generation has chosen to utilize. Therefore, if we want to communicate with and be relevant to this generation, then we need to use the mediums they use. That is the reason why the church uses blogs, facebook, and rss feeds. That's why we're working on podcasting and twittering. It's also the reason why Jesus came to earth as a man. Humanity certainly isn't the ideal method of communicating divinity, but it is the method that we would understand the best. Jesus accepted those limitations because he was so passionate about communicating with us. Blogging is not a replacement for face-to-face communication. But it does have advantages all its own, and it is one of the ways this generation communicates. And that's reason enough for me.
ReplyDelete