Chances are, your students use Facebook. Facebook says that monthly active users hit the 1.86 billion mark in late 2016. Active users are those who have logged in to Facebook during the last 30 days.
As with any technological tool, Facebook can be used wisely – or not. Safety and privacy are the paramount issues.
Perhaps the most important thing your students need to understand is this:
- People may gain their first (and maybe only) impression of someone by what they see on that person’s Facebook page. This is key. Viewers of your student’s Facebook page may include people new to the Christian church, people unfamiliar with MLC, people back home in their youth group or high school who look up to them, and people at the congregations to which they are one day assigned or called.
Here are some more items to discuss with your students.
- Facebook can become an obsession. Not unlike TV and video games, it can eat up too much of your students’ time, hurting their grades and preventing them from having real face-to-face contact with friends.
- Everything your students post on their Facebook profiles enters the public domain. Even though they restrict access, they should have no expectation of privacy. Knowing this, they should . . .
- remember that they are representing their Savior, even on Facebook.
- post only information they are comfortable revealing to anyone and everyone.
- realize that cyber-stalkers and identity thieves are real threats.
- know that if MLC administrators become aware of pictures of illegal or sinful activities, they will respond.
“MLC administrators do not search through online social networks,” says VP for Student Life Jeff Schone, “but they do urge people to be responsible and careful, and to use these technological tools in ways that are beneficial.”
