I am not a big user of social media. Mostly I find it to be a waste of my time. I can learn more and encounter more new ideas by reading books than from the memes that pop up on the Internet. Nonetheless, I do spend a significant amount of time on the Internet. After all, I publish my journal on my website every day. I get most of my news from Internet sites. And I watch YouTube videos for entertainment. I was not an early adopter of FaceBook, but I finally signed up and created a profile years ago when our nephew was traveling in Central America. Facebook was a way to see his pictures and keep track of his travels. I found myself checking it daily to keep up on his adventures. Then he came home from his travels and stopped posting. I would go for long periods of time without looking at Facebook at all.

The Covid pandemic changed my use of social media dramatically. As face-to-face meetings began to shut down, I turned to Internet platforms to continue contact with my congregation. I posted daily prayer on my YouTube channel with links to the church’s website and FaceBook page. We started live-streaming worship on Facebook because the platform was convenient and did not involve large fees.

In the midst of the pandemic, my high school class held a 50-year reunion. I didn’t attend the events, which were lightly attended because of the pandemic, but I did join a Facebook group of school classmates. I posted some photos and even a school paper from our elementary days on Facebook as classmates shared memories. From that I received “friend” requests from several former classmates and I responded positively. I ignore the majority of requests, as I frequently receive them from people I don’t know. I also receive a number of requests from people pretending to be people I have known, so I check out the “about” information on every request to avoid making connections that are not meaningful.

As I made contact with former classmates, my Facebook feed began to change. I noticed more and more posts that contained extreme political views. Some of them were overtly racist, misogynist, or homophobic. Some contained outright lies that were materially false. Some promoted violence. I learned to use the Facebook feature that allows users to see less of certain types of content.

I tried, however, to avoid blocking posts by my friends. First of all, as Facebook goes, I don’t think I have very many friends. I don’t make friend requests. I do respond to requests when I know a person from some other context in my life. Secondly, I do not want to isolate myself from ideas with which I disagree. I want to participate in the world of ideas and I think that my critical thinking skills are honed through contact with ideas with which I disagree as well as ideas that are similar to my own. I don’t want to be a person who only speaks with those with whom I agree.

I don’t however, engage in online arguments. The few I have witnessed are devoid of reasonable rules of logic. They are nothing more than sophomoric shouting matches. I think my energies are better engaged in working to educate people with whom I have a chance of ongoing and multi-dimensional conversations.

Last night, I once again, directed Facebook to show me fewer comments from a high school classmate. I was offended by his continual passing on of racist and violent memes. I had begun to wonder if he ever wrote any of his papers for school as his Facebook posts are never things he himself has written. He simply passes on memes posted by others. Nonetheless, his choice of memes is offensive. Last night, as the world struggles to make some sense out of the Buffalo, New York attack by a white man directed at black shoppers in which 10 people died, a racist meme was simply too much. I decided to just stop reading those memes.

I suppose that my decision was cowardly. When lies are perpetuated and there are no voices to speak the truth, the lies become reality. Social media, along with the rest of society, needs voices to speak the truth and to call out those who circulate lies and hate. From a purely personal standpoint, however, it seems to me that pursuing a relationship with someone whom I hardly know and who is unlikely to read and learn from a cogent argument, is a waste of time.

As long as our congregation uses the Facebook platform to livestream worship, I will keep my account. I will log in from time to time to read the comments posted by those who participate in our church’s activities. I will read posts by people who are my friends offline as well as online. But I have no energy for those who simply pass on the posts of others without adding any of their own content. I have decided to spend less of my time with social media and more of my time working in other venues to educate myself and other church members about racism and systematic injustice.

I understand that there is a need to stand up for the truth in all of the platforms that humans use to communicate. I know that it is wrong to allow racism to perpetuate. I wouldn’t pause before naming a racist joke in a face to face conversation. I am still called to be antiracist in my words and deeds. But I am just one voice and I can’t save the world all by myself. I have decided to leave some of the necessary conversations of this world to others.

Last night a presenter in our church’s adult forum pointed out that in the Bible, God calls communities of people way more often than individuals. We are not simply called as individuals, but also as communities. Frankly, my high school class isn’t much of a community. We are connected by a bit of shared history and a few memories. As I continue to listen for God’s call, I think my time is better invested in relationships with the congregation I serve.

If i don’t respond to your facebook request, you can always try talking to me in person.