FACEBOOK: THE HIDDEN DANGER
We live in an iWorld. Surrounded by iPhones, iPads, MYspace, YOUtube, the focus is clear: Me, my,
I. One need not look far to see this obsession with the self. In order to sell, advertisers must appeal to
the ego. For example, many ads appeal to the part of us that loves power and being in charge.
DirectTV tells you: “Don’t watch TV, direct TV!” Yogurtland says: “You rule! Welcome to the land
of endless yogurt possibilities, where you rule the portions, the choices and the scene.”
But advertisers aren’t the only ones who appeal to our ego. There is a global phenomenon that
provides a breeding ground and platform for that ego. And it’s called Facebook. Now, I’ll be the first
to assert that Facebook can be a powerful tool for good. It is, like many other things, what you make
of it. A knife can be used to cut food which feeds the hungry, or it can be used to kill someone.
Facebook can be used for great good—after all it was Facebook that helped facilitate the toppling of
a dictator. Facebook can be used as a powerful tool to organize, call, remind, and unite. Facebook
can also be used to strengthen our connection to God and to each other... Or Facebook can be used to
strengthen the hold of our nafs (lower self or ego).
The Facebook phenomenon is an interesting one. In each and every one of us is an ego. It is the part of
ourselves that must be suppressed (if we are to avoid Anakin’s fate of turning to the dark side, that
is). The danger of feeding the ego is that, as the ego is fed, it becomes strong. When it becomes strong,
it begins to rule us. Soon we are no longer slaves to God; we become slaves to ourselves.
The ego is the part of us that loves power. It is the part that loves to be seen, recognized, praised, and
adored. Facebook provides a powerful platform for this. It provides a platform by which every word,
picture, or thought I have can be seen, praised, and ‘liked’. As a result, I begin to seek this. But then it
doesn’t just stay in the cyber world. I begin even to live my life with this visibility in mind. Suddenly,
I live every experience, every photo, every thought, as if it’s being watched, because in the back of
my mind I’m thinking, “I’ll put it on Facebook”. This creates a very interesting state of being, almost a
constant sense that I am living my life on display. I become ever conscious of being watched, because
everything can be put up on Facebook for others to see and comment on.
More importantly, it creates a false sense of self-importance, where every insignificant move I make
is of international importance. Soon I become the focus, the one on display. The message is: I am so
important. My life is so important. Every move I make is so important. The result becomes an even
stronger me-focused world, where I am at the center.
As it turns out, this result is diametrically opposed to the Reality of existence. The goal of this life is
to realize the Truth of God’s greatness and my own insignificance and need before Him. The goal is
to take myself out of the center and put Him there instead. But Facebook perpetuates the illusion of the
exact opposite. It strengthens my belief that because of my own importance, every inconsequential
move or thought should be on display. Suddenly what I ate for breakfast or bought at the grocery store
is news, important enough to publish. When I put up a picture, I wait for compliments; I wait for
acknowledgement and recognition. With the number of likes or comments, physical beauty becomes
something that can now be quantified. When I put up a post, I wait for it to be ‘liked’. And I am ever
conscience of—and even compete in—the number of “friends” I have. (Friends, here, is in quotation
marks because no one knows 80% of their “friends” on Facebook.)
This preoccupation and rivalry to acquire more, is mentioned in the Quran. God says: