I remember well attending a writer’s conference with a friend in the mid-nineties and the speaker said he would periodically check his email to take a break from writing.
I naively asked my friend, “Why does anyone need email? Who has time to sit and read it?”
She looked at me incredulously and said something to the effect that once you have it, you’ll love it.
She was instrumental in helping me set up my first email account and then sent me emails nonstop. At first, I looked at them as an intrusion in my life. This was before IPhones and my computer was upstairs so it wasn’t convenient or important for me to run up and down the stairs to see if anyone had sent an email.
My friend and I used to talk a lot on the phone or in person, but then our mode of communication became almost exclusively email. I also learned that our words could be misconstrued and misunderstood on the computer screen and our first disagreement came via an email message.
Next, came Facebook which again seemed like a major intrusion in my life but when my daughter moved from California to Idaho and she set up a Facebook account, we became “Facebook friends” so I could see what was going on with her and the young grandchildren.
And hey, it was free as opposed to long-distance phone calls, even though I still preferred hearing her voice and seeing the hard copy pictures she sent in the mail.
Soon, I was Facebook friends with many people I recognized and many I didn’t! It was a fun way to stay in contact and connected. But again, it meant climbing the stairs and sitting at the computer a big chunk of time.
Later, as my writing and speaking ministry was flourishing, I attended another writer’s conference where I took a workshop on how to use “Twitter.” That seemed much more complicated and had a number of steps to actually set it up and use effectively. Maybe I’d work on it later.
I progressed to a Blackberry and a laptop so I no longer had to climb the stairs to my office to engage in email and social media. It was accessible 24/7!
Book publishers expected authors to have a social media presence and it was advantageous to have numerous followers.
Social media began to consume a big part of my waking hours.
I long sometimes for the days when I asked my friend, “Who has time for this?”
We’ve Lost Our Privacy
Like many of you, I’ve begun to see social media acting like Big Brother. If I Google or look on a website for an item, I suddenly see ads for it popping up on Facebook. It almost seems that if I even just say I might need something, ads appear for it.
Just yesterday, I was talking face-to-face with someone in the privacy of my home asking about carpet cleaners in our area. Last night, while scrolling through Facebook, there was an advertisement for a local carpet cleaner!!
Coincidence or is Facebook somehow listening to my conversations if my IPhone is near?!
No, we don’t have Alexa. I’ve read Alexa does listen in on conversations in your home.
Years ago, my daughter told me, “Mom, just Google anything you want to know. It’s all there.”
She’s right and actually it’s quite helpful when I’m doing research for a book, even if I’m looking for a Scripture on a topic.
But there’s a downside to all this “free” technology that we’ve ignored.
Big Tech knows way too much about us and we’ve let them.
Big Tech knows where we are, where we live, where we go, what we buy, and maybe what we say and think.
Big Tech has all generations addicted to electronic devices, which have become a necessity rather than a luxury. We’re hooked!
And we’ve ignored Big Tech’s personal invasion into our lives.
Now Big Tech has us just where they want us so they can control what we see, read, and think.
We’ve Lost Our Freedom of Speech
There is no question that Facebook, Twitter, and Google are biased and loyal to the liberal left. Their goal in this election, and universally, is to squelch and censor any communication that does not fit the Democrat and liberal talking points and agenda.
Our President, his campaign, the White House, conservatives, Republicans, and Christians are having their social media accounts censored, locked, and closed, including by YouTube owned by Google.
Even though Congress and the Senate have themselves been censored if they’re on the wrong side politically of Big Tech, they’ve done nothing to stop this communist type censorship.
We’ve heard the stories of China and Russia censoring what people can say and hear in their countries and we said this could never happen in America, yet here we are.
It’s not Russia interfering with the election. It’s the Big Tech conglomerates who can shutdown anything that doesn’t support their liberal platform, beliefs, and candidates.
And we let it happen. We’re sacrificing our freedoms for what they dangle in front of us as free convenient communication while they censor and control us!
I’ve watched Congress and Senate bring the heads of each of the Big 3 into question them, and things only get worse. After the election, next month the Senate is questioning Facebook’s Zuckerberg and Twitter’s Dorsey on alleged censorship, but the damage is already done for this election.
Will they be held accountable? Will anything change? I’m doubtful.
When I saw many in China forced to wear masks and locked into their homes, I thought that would never happen in America. But it did!
Would you have ever thought schools would be closed in America?
Churches closed?
Neighbors encouraged to snitch on each other?
Support for defunding the police and the Pentagon?
Socialism/Marxism/Communism on the ballot?
There are substitutes for Facebook available, but none are very effective.
I’m speaking to myself when I muse whether God is telling us to use the time we spend on social media to instead communicate with Him through His Word, not the world’s ways and words.
I’m going to write more about that last thought next week.
Social media definitely has its rightful place in our society. It can be used for good.
I’m just considering how it’s also being used to manipulate and distract us from good.
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8
As you prepare to cast your vote in a week, consider which party supports freedom of speech?
- Which party is using Big Tech to control what you hear and say?
- Why don’t they want you to know and share the truth?
What would America look like if they won?
Can unjust leaders claim that God is on their side—
leaders whose decrees permit injustice?
21 They gang up against the righteous
and condemn the innocent to death.
22 But the Lord is my fortress;
my God is the mighty rock where I hide.
23 God will turn the sins of evil people back on them.
He will destroy them for their sins.
The Lord our God will destroy them. Psalm 94:20-23
I would enjoy hearing your thoughts.
Leave a Comment