A Godless Facebook
An overwhelming majority of Penn freshmen are on the Facebook. It is a fabulous way to form new relationships with college friends and a simple method for keeping in touch with students from your high school.
But besides networking, the Facebook has many dimensions. It is often used for political purposes, with students given the option to choose their views and create Facebook groups surrounding key political issues, parties, and elections. The Facebook is academic with students listing their majors and courses, and definitely social, with an entire section dedicated to “my parties.” The Facebook is even commercial because it has advertising and sponsored groups.
Yet the Facebook is not religious. Members are not given the option to list their religious beliefs the way that they are allowed to describe their political views. There are no groups that emerge from a search for “religion.” When I searched “Jesus,” seven groups resulted, but almost all of them were joke groups like “Ho’s for Jesus” and “Nuke Foreign Gay Whales for Jesus!” A search for “Jew” yielded similar results: 38 matching groups but only one or two legitimate religious-themed groups. The rest of them were for parody or networking purposes, such as “Only Ugly Jewish Girls Wear Huge Sunglasses” and “Penn Jews for Kerry.” Even the genuine groups like “Hillel” and “The Newman Center” did not use the site for religious purposes, but merely as networking within each spiritual community.
I am surprised that the Facebook is not used for spreading religious beliefs or preaching. Although it might be a difficult media to work with, it is certainly essential to many college students’ livelihoods. In my opinion, religious groups have not taken full advantage of the opportunities that this exciting media offers.
But besides networking, the Facebook has many dimensions. It is often used for political purposes, with students given the option to choose their views and create Facebook groups surrounding key political issues, parties, and elections. The Facebook is academic with students listing their majors and courses, and definitely social, with an entire section dedicated to “my parties.” The Facebook is even commercial because it has advertising and sponsored groups.
Yet the Facebook is not religious. Members are not given the option to list their religious beliefs the way that they are allowed to describe their political views. There are no groups that emerge from a search for “religion.” When I searched “Jesus,” seven groups resulted, but almost all of them were joke groups like “Ho’s for Jesus” and “Nuke Foreign Gay Whales for Jesus!” A search for “Jew” yielded similar results: 38 matching groups but only one or two legitimate religious-themed groups. The rest of them were for parody or networking purposes, such as “Only Ugly Jewish Girls Wear Huge Sunglasses” and “Penn Jews for Kerry.” Even the genuine groups like “Hillel” and “The Newman Center” did not use the site for religious purposes, but merely as networking within each spiritual community.
I am surprised that the Facebook is not used for spreading religious beliefs or preaching. Although it might be a difficult media to work with, it is certainly essential to many college students’ livelihoods. In my opinion, religious groups have not taken full advantage of the opportunities that this exciting media offers.
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