Almost half a century ago, when I got into the then new Citizens' Band radio fad, there were rules governing the establishment of what was called a "station." As I recall, I had to read and swear compliance with a set of operational standards. These included stating my call sign (KJB6733) at the beginning and end of each transmission. I was supposed to limit my transmissions to a few minutes. Stations were not allowed to have more than four watts of power. And one more rule which brings me to my subject of the day: I was not supposed to "broadcast," which means sending a transmission with no intended receiver.
When people started violating these rules, boosting their power and talking endlessly to no one in particular, CB radio lost its usefulness for the average citizen. The airwaves became electronically cluttered with indecipherable noise being generated by illegal stations to the point where usable reception was limited to little more than a mile. Before the rules were smashed, send-and-receive transmissions of over twenty miles were not unusual.
My dear reader may be wondering what in Heaven's name this has to do with Facebook. Just this: Fb is now becoming so cluttered with trivial "broadcasts" by my "friends" that it has become practically unusable. One may argue that this situation is a result of my choice of friends. This would be correct in part. Someone else may wish to point out that I have the option of un-friending anyone who clutters my wall or at the very least, hiding their posts. That is also true. Sadly this places the burden of creating a usable tool entirely in my hands.
I say sadly because my hidden friends may occasionally write something I want to read, and it should not be my sole responsibility to police the medium. If there were a set of rules, Facebook etiquette say, we could all take part in keeping our walls clear for useful posting. Were that the case, I would be able to take note of the significant happenings in my friends' lives without having to wade through fathoms of frivolity to get the news. If people posted only truly meaningful or entertaining information, Fb would be far more useful. I say this as a member with less than two hundred friends. I cannot imagine what it is like for those with more.
This situation is nearly a direct parallel to spamming in email. I am not referring to the commercial practice of broadcasting advertising through email. I am calling spam those ridiculous forwards that some people cannot help but forward no matter how trivial or outlandish they may be. If I read one more time how rich we would all be if only the government had given the stimulus dollars directly to us, I will scream. (Do the math people; it's hundreds, not tens of thousands each.) Nor is my opinion of my contacts improved when they forward mail which ends with near death threats if I refuse to follow suit and spam my entire contact list.
The question may have arisen in someone's mind asking what this post is doing under my blog title. It should be obvious: believers are called to join in fellowship (koinonia) with one another. Facebook is a great place to do this. I could do a better job of laughing when you laugh and crying when you cry if I could get to those posts more easily. I have been known to stop at a post and utter a little prayer when the Spirit leads me. That is the body in action in cyberspace. That's Y2Kristian. 10-4?
Please post a comment or "like" this on Fb if you agree.
No comments:
Post a Comment