Monday, October 24, 2011

Puberty on facebook.com



 Yes, I have a facebook profile. I have a love/hate relationship with facebook.com. I love being able to stay in touch with family and friends who I would have otherwise lost contact because they are not in my immediate circle. I also find it cool to be able to connect with people I have never met who share similar interest. We can join forums, share knowledge or even support revolutions!
However, there are many very troubling aspects of facebook. To keep this post short, I will focus on just one: teens and preteens growing up IN FRONT OF THE WORLD. Teens, perhaps more-so than adults, happen to be very trustworthy of social networking sites. I suppose that is because of two elements:

1. They grew up in this digital world, and so facebook to them would be what my diary and photo album was to me as a teenager.

 2. Teens are naïve due to an immature brain (literally) and lack of experience in life.

I am constantly in awe at the gull teens have when posting on their statuses their personal business, photos and grotesque language. I’m the first to admit I was NO ANGEL as a teen. But only a handful of friends were a witness to my behavior. All of the incidents were isolated by time and the number of people who knew. The only way my parents or any gown up could find out about my mischief, was if someone told on me, and then it would still be their word against mine. But with facebook, the information is out there, and is owned by facebook.com. Any status update can be used against you, whether it’s now of in the future.

Facebook has revolutionized growing up. Many times I have checked my homepage and seen grotesque language and pictures posted by youth who are either my family or acquaintances. Other times, the postings are not grotesque, but they are deeply personal. They say things that I know the young person would not want thousands of people to know. But the truth is, unless you only have a friend list only of people you talk to on an everyday basis, you should not post these type of things because facebook’s privacy is very NOT private. Ever Google your name and see your profile pic? Even with the security settings, we must be more aware.

And it’s not just teens. I was just thinking how I’ve been “friending” a lot of Muslim Sisters – at least they say they’re Muslim sister hmm? - on my page. I do not personally know most of these sisters, yet they can view pictures of my baby shower and 2010 vacation. Would I show a stranger my hardcopy photo album? No, I would not. But I figure since I’m covered up, it okay. But, is it okay? Or is it just the norm that we’ve gotten used to in this digital age where private is now public and public is worldwide?
Food for thought.


3 comments:

Umm Khaled said...

Assalaamu alaikum, masha'ALLAH. Jazakum Allahu khairan for this. Indeed it is a scary thing of how the teens are growing up literally in the eye of the world. Isn't it enough that we fear our children would run to their friends for advice on personal issues rather than us? Now they run to Facebook and the like. But it is not just the teens, subhanallah us adults make really bad decisions when it comes to what we expose to the world thinking that posting behind a username and password is privacy enough to not worry about things. Many times I have typed something, deleted wondering if what I am doing is truly right in the sight of Allah first and foremost. Many times I made errors in judgement by not doing that check and it came back (or I'm still waiting for it to come back) and kick me in my behind. We really need to be careful of what we put out there, especially when many have their own children on the book with them. Jazakum Allahu khairan for the post!

Sulayman2 said...

ASA

Strangely enough, I've thought often about this aspect of Faceboook, the fact the ones private posting are not so private.

I once attended a class long ago at the Islamic Center of Philadelphia. The sheikh was lecturing on the unseen world. He said something I thought was very beneficial. He said " the shaitan can not read your mind nor can he peer into your heart, but studies carefully what you say and do, so be very careful of what you say and do."

We forget about the enemy of mankind who seeks nothing but our destruction, unseen though he is, he sees what we see.; be careful of what you post.

Muslim Mommy said...

JazakaAllah for your insightful comments!

None of us is perfect, but we can certainly be more careful, right? And yes, great point about the Shaitan listening,watching, and waiting for us to expose our faults!