The Church of Facebook.

This is the third part of my Literary Review.

With my next book, The Church of Facebook I felt I was on more familiar ground.  The graphic on the front of the book, of a virtual church was a bit disconcerting, but Rice is using virtual church in the sense that we can be church on Facebook as we can anywhere.

I enjoy using facebook, and I love the way it keeps me connected with family friends and colleges and I have an interest in psychology, so this book took my interest.

Rice begins with Martin Seligman’s positive psychology and what comes out on top of their research is that connection is the key to happiness, authentic connection.[1] No wonder Facebook is so popular.

In chapter 2 he looks at environmental psychology and describes;

“four homelike qualities that Facebook uniquely facilitates.”

1.       Home is where we keep all the stuff that matters to us.

2.       Home is wherever we find family.

3.       Home is where we feel safe because we can control the environment.

4.       Home is where we can just be ourselves.[2]

He looks at Malcolm Gladwell’s concept of “channel capacity” – which he used to determine that human’s can have a genuinely social relationship with a maximum of about 150 people.  The wider our social circles, the more socially and intellectually burdensome they become.

Rice uses the story or Jesus and the Samaritan woman (John 4.1-42) as an analogy for going into Facebook with the right mindset.  This section reminded me very much of Sister Angela’s story of the Navaho woman in the first book. Rice focuses on Jesus intentionality, humility and authenticity and then goes on to give 5 more specific hints to monitor online behaviour:

1.      Practice regular check-ins.  (checking feelings, thoughts in order  to bring us back to the present moment)

2.      Make the intention to not go online immediately before bed and immediately after waking up. (Time for God)

3.      Practice mindful Facebooking. (A bit like 1, check how much time you spend on it, check how you are feeling and how it is affecting you)

4.      Practice authentic Facebooking (Does the content of your contributions reflect your God-given nature?)

5.      Adopt one or two Facebook friends for one month.  (Pray for them, encourage them, invite them to catch up with you in person)[3]

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[1] Rice, J The Church of Facebook: How the Hyperconnected Are Redefining Community. (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2009), p. 28.

[2] Ibid., pp 76-82

[3] Ibid., pp. 211-215.