So an old seminary friend wrote me on facebook the other day, asking my opinion on the health care bill. This led to a respectful and engaging discussion, not only of health care, but also of abortion (her concern was whether the bill had done enough to ensure the government is not funding abortions). This friend and I share many similar convictions, but we also differ strongly in some things, especially on the issue of abortion (she is passionately pro-life, and while I am not pro-abortion, I believe we can't legislate personal morality, so I am passionately pro-choice, and even more passionately pro what Jim Wallis calls a "consistent ethic of life" - I'm not so interested in condemning straw women as I am in constructing a better world, a world in which women - especially those in a tough spot - would find plenty of reason and support to bear any child they've conceived).
But I digress. . .my point in writing was how facebook can be a tool for public discourse. I know it doesn't always function that way. I know there is a danger in starting discussions like this on fb because most folks have a wide spectrum of friends, and the friends don't necessarily know each other and so don't have much background on where comments are coming from, nor much incentive to disagree in a way that maintains relationship. I've seen political comments on fb blow up on people in unintended ways, certainly, and that can get ugly.
But when it's done well, and respectfully, as I feel this friend and I have been doing over the last couple of days, then I think it can become an excellent model for healthy public discourse, as all your friends can "listen in," can see it going on before their eyes, can even contribute if they want. And in a media culture dominated by soundbites, sensationalism, and snarkiness resonating in the echo chamber of a 24/7 news cycle, in a society where daily life is increasingly spent among self-selecting groups of like-minded people, I think we need all the constructive models of public discourse that we can find.
That's all I've got for tonight. I have no idea how to encourage facebook's use as a public forum. Just think it'd be a tremendous tool toward that end.
1 comment:
An interesting point -- and frankly, some of the very few public conversations about race that I've been involved with have taken place in facebook. I think, like any other semi-public gathering place, it can be a place for real conversation that is "overheard" in helpful ways. But, like any such place, for that to work people need to show respect.
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