Confessions: I Follow Obama on Facebook

Recently I was asked by a friend why I follow Obama on Facebook. She was somewhat distressed that I could support Obama when I am so clearly working in conservative circles.

I decided that I would write up my reasons. Let me know your thoughts!

There are two main reasons I follow Obama on Facebook (and receive his mailings and emails). The first is because he is the president of the country and whether I like what he is doing or not, he is in charge and is my president. The Bible commands us to pray for him, and I find that I can better pray for him when I am updated on what he is up to.  

The second reason I follow the President on Facebook is because I disagree with him. I want to know how he thinks. It is easier for me to respond to what he is doing when I know what he is doing. I read widely from the FAR right to the FAR left (and a lot of moderates in the middle). It helps me to know what the arguments are. I especially follow and read those who are influential.  

Agreeing with someone is not a requirement for my reading list. If I lived in ancient Rome, I would follow Nero on Facebook so I can keep up with the times. If I could follow him on Facebook, following Obama sounds easy.  

I know that I am rather unique in this regard and don't expect everyone else to treat the news or Facebook like I do, but because you asked, I thought I'd let you know.

Post by Jeremiah Lorrig

Does Facebook Make Us Lonely?

I feel kind of silly: I wrote about half of this article the week I received my copy of the Atlantic. It was going to be timely and relevant to our readers. Then, I hit a travel spell and didn't have the time to finish it. So today, I opened it up again and I was tempted to just scrap it. But then, I thought about it and figured that none of you likely read the Atlantic! So I am not late, all of this will be new to you and we can have our own conversation here on Looking for Overland and, unlike the Atlantic, it will consider God's purpose in human interaction.

This last month, while reading The Atlantic, I came across a very interesting article. It was titled “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” The article was well researched and dealt with many fascinating issues.

The author, Stephen Marche, sets out to answer the question, “Does the Internet make people lonely, or are lonely people more attracted to the Internet?” But, along the way, he also shares several nuggets of knowledge on the broader topic of human relationships. The fact is that loneliness can creep into anyone's life. You can be surrounded by people and still be lonely. Some people might try turning to the internet to address these problems, but it can all be like a mirage, giving the promise of water from a distance, but with nothing to quench your desire when you arrive.

Loneliness happens when inter-relational needs are not met. God designed us to need other people; He didn't make people to be autonomous. The Church is made up of many parts who all should work together to accomplish God's work. Likewise a family is made up of different people who form the circle of love that is the basic building block for society. But too often, we don't live up to how we were designed; something breaks down and we become lonely. 

Real loneliness is deeper than you might imagine. Doctors have found that “loneliness affects not only the brain, but [also] the process of DNA transcription. When you are lonely, your whole body is lonely.” You can be literally lonely to the core of who you are. And when you are lonely to the core, your metal, emotional, and physical safety are at risk. Life is not meant to be lived alone.

No one wants to be lonely; we all want to be loved. The problem comes when those relationships which we value breakdown. Whenever people are involved there are always problems. Sometimes, relational problems can be so harmful that they spill over into other relationships. Sometimes one severe problem can damage all of one’s relationships. For example, the pain of a missing father can transform into a fundamental distrust for all men.

Yet even when we have been hurt, we still deeply desire meaningful relationships. The difference is that now we’re unwilling to become vulnerable. So sometimes we try to cheat. The Atlantic says it like this: “These days, insecure in our relationships and anxious about intimacy, we look to technology for ways to be in relationships and protect ourselves from them at the same time.” There is also a sense of insecurity that we have, “We don’t want to intrude on each other, so instead we constantly intrude on each other, but not in real time.” The internet allows us to always be in touch, but never feel guilty. Of course, you can see the problem: counterfeit relationships will not solve the problem. 

Facebook, however, is not all bad. Studies have found both positive and negative traits in people who use Facebook: “Facebook users have higher levels of total narcissism, exhibitionism, and leadership than Facebook nonusers.” Now this isn't a catch all. My mother uses Facebook and she is not a "total narcissist," but she is a leader. So my guess is that, if you have these traits already, then Facebook will feed them and make them more pronounced. In short, Facebook may allow a people-pleasing drama-queen to be more of a people-pleasing drama-queen, but it won’t make a wall-flower one.

It’s silly to say that Facebook makes people lonely any more than stamp collecting does. Facebook is a way to spend time, but it doesn't have to consume you. Like anything else, if consumed without regard for balance, Facebook will eat your soul. But whether or not that happens is still in your hands.

Some people latch onto the negatives of the new internet world and attack Facebook and the rest of the internet because it has destroyed "the good old days." But, “[n]ostalgia for the good old days of disconnection would not just be pointless, it would be hypocritical and ungrateful.” I am very grateful for the internet. I use the internet to see beautiful pictures of my nieces and nephew. I love Facebook because it allows my students all over the country to contact me and ask questions. Email allows me to share prayer requests with friends. Besides all this, the internet is what keeps me paid. (I run social media for my employer.)

The fact is that Facebook was made for man, not man for Facebook. We can use it as something to hide behind and have "safe" relationships, or we can use it to communicate with friends and loved ones.

Over the past few months, I have been working on making my use of Facebook more intentional and more focused on keeping relationships going. For me, that means that I "like" and comment on more posts. It means that I make an effort to be personal in my interactions and not just drop thoughts out into vastness of the internet.

What do you do to keep Facebook personal?

Post by Jeremiah Lorrig

P.S. Did you know that one way I feel less lonely is when people “like” and comment on my posts? It is great! You should give it a try. :-D 

Book Review: "Steve Jobs" by Walter Isaacson

Screen capture from my iPad.

Steve Jobs passed away on October 5, 2011, one day after my own birthday on October 4th, which that year involved me gallivanting around the island of Manhattan all day until I could no longer walk. Yet Job's death soured my mood very quickly and cast a pallor over my 27th year (I turned 26, FYI). I was not alone. Around the nation, vigils were held at Apple Stores. People wept, lit candles, and sang together in memory of Steve Jobs. Never in my life (albeit not that long a time) had I witnessed such public and universal grief over the death of a public speaker. Though it should not be surprising, as so many of us, starting with our first iPod, had invited him and his guidance into the most intimate part of our lives.

I had hoped that reading his life story might help me process the strange emotions his death brought about in me. The last biography (though it was a memoir) I read was George W. Bush's "Decision Points," which was a very pleasant experience that allowed me to relive some of my best memories of the last decade. So it is ironic that rather than being a repeat of that experience, "Steve Jobs" was a tale of power, darkness, and tragedy.

Jobs' life was something of a miracle, though he himself rarely recognized anything but the tragedy. He was born to an unwed, interracial couple in the mid-1950's. As his mother's parents did not approve of the union, no marriage was planned, and so his mother could choose to abort him (an illegal procedure at the time) or give him up for adoption. She chose the latter, and Jobs later would be thankful for this, though he still bore the sting of rejection throughout his life, considering it a sort of curse.

His life story is full of such double edged blessings. From creating a breakthrough company, to losing it, to getting it back bloodied and damaged. Though his highest points were definitely his business, creative, and material successes, his lowest points were found in his relationships. He openly admits he lacked as a father, and his romantic relationships were fraught with troubles.

Interestingly, Isaacson draws a connection (one that Jobs insisted was essential) between the drug and hippie movements of the late 60s and early 70s and the computer revolution of the late 70s and early 80s. To put it simply, they were the same people. These status quo challenging rebels first rebelled against a culture and then against an industry. Jobs famously asked a class of Stanford students in 1982, "How many of you are virgins? How many of you have taken LSD?" He truly believed that sex and drug use were indispensable if one wished to truly open their mind to new possibilities and higher levels of thought. As a practitioner of Zen Buddhism, Jobs had a very spiritual way of viewing human experience that informed all his work.

There is much we can learn from Jobs. Certainly, as a business man and creator there is much we can aspire to be. The book points to his successes not only at Apple but also at Pixar. Until Isaacson reminded me, I had already forgotten that there was a time not too long ago that Disney planned to kick Pixar to the curb and make their own films based on the characters Pixar had created but by right belonged to Disney. Ultimately, Jobs left us two companies that greatly impact our culture and society for good in very different ways. This is worth studying, as neither company's success has truly been replicated.

He possessed keen insight. When talking to President Obama in the fall of 2010, he told him that the U.S. had a shortage of engineers qualified to support heavy manufacturing, and that to compensate, students from other nations who receive an engineering degree here in this country should be granted work visas automatically so that their education could be used here. President Obama was unable to separate this idea from the DREAM Act, which is of course quite different, and this frustrated Jobs. He predicted that Obama would only serve one term unless he was able to have a better relationship with businesses.

Yet there is also much to beware. After reading this book, I am even more convinced that great success comes at great personal cost, both to oneself and one's family and close associates. Jobs hurt many people; some perhaps will never truly emotionally recover. It forces one to ask the question, would you trade what this man lacked (and many normal, even poor people, have) for his wealth, success, and power?

"Steve Jobs" is a long book, but one I highly recommend reading. The history of computers and technology development wasn't taught in my college American History course in 2003, but it is definitely history now and should be studied and learned from. This technology shapes our world in extremely powerful ways; we should understand it, where it came from, and the men who built it.