Disclaimer: Most of this post is about me telling you why you should use Facebook. It may seem out of character for me to talk about technology so much, when this blog is particularly about discipleship, ecclesiology, etc. Have no fear, at the end, I connect the use of this awesome web 2.0 system with ecclesiology.

Facebook is awesome. And it isn’t just for college students (who are still its bread and butter).
Facebook is great because it gives you a constantly updated feed of info on your friends: their status, their events, the new friends they make, their most recently blog posts (if they direct their blog feed into Facebook), etc. This makes it incredibly easy to stay up to date with your friends–and to find long-lost friends. And, unlike Myspace, there isn’t any smut to try to ignore. And you don’t have to listen to stupid music playing every time you visit someone’s site.

If you don’t use Facebook, you should. This isn’t an annoying bit of internet technology that you should ignore. I use it to stay connected to old college friends, old camp pals, current buddies, colleagues, etc. All of this information show up on my home page–allowing me to know when one friend gets engaged or another graduates from college. It lets me know their favorite movies and books.

Facebook lets you create events (like parties or conferences) and let all your friends know about (who can in turn tell their friends about it). For example, I’ve let friends know about Christarchy! and the Twin Cities Parade of Churches.

And you can create groups, which function the way forums function. I just created a group on Alternative Economics–about 20 people have joined the group and can post comments based upon that theme.

And if you don’t already have a blog, you can start writing posts on Facebook too (or you can have your current blog feed into Facebook). Some have suggested that Facebook will kill off blogging. Not so. Never in a thousand years. But I guarantee that blogging platforms like Wordpress will begin to integrate Facebook or Facebook-like features into their architecture.

And I am willing to bet that at some point Facebook will beef up their blogging architecture. You won’t simply be able to post thoughts or pull a feed from another blog. Eventually, they’ll probably allow you to customize the look of your profile, provide an integrated RSS reader, and develop more plug-ins. And so, I predict that Wordpress (and its competitors) will integrate Facebook features into their architecture and Facebook will integrate Wordpress feature into their architecture (they’ve already got some nifty plugins). In the best scenario, Facebook and Wordpress would be owned by the same company–and a new uber-platform will be unleashed upon the world.

And already Facebook is trying to get in on the Craigslist market by creating a classified marketplace.

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What does this have to do with ecclesiology? A lot, actually. Facebook has allowed me, as a thinker and leader, to decentralize my influence while, at the same time, focusing more completely on Missio Dei’s mission on the West Bank.

Let me explain. I get friends and acquaintances expressing interest in our approach to missional living all the time. Some have asked to be a part of Missio Dei because they find our approach compelling. But it wouldn’t be a good fit for them. Why? Because many of these folks are committed to different places in the metro area–or outside the metro area. For me to say “come and see” would be to woo them out of their God-given context.

By using decentralized, organic, communications systems like Facebook, I can create events, invite friends to events, and follow up on those events. Facebook allows me to more effectively foster something like Christarchy!–which is a decentralized gathering of likeminded folks. At Christarchy, I can help people learn and grow without ripping them out of their context. Instead, I can catalyze people to follow Jesus in their own context while remaining faithful to my own context. I can influence and be influenced by a network of likeminded people without requiring them to come be a part of my particular community.

And while the Twin Cities Emergent Cohort still maintains a website, I have no doubt that most communication will begin to take place over at Facebook.  Sure, blogging allowed for some of that. But now, with Facebook, sharing information and coordinating events is SUPER easy. And effective. Facebook facilitates real-life networking (unlike Myspace) that can translate into on-the-ground grassroots movements.  Facebook is perfect for mobilizing and energizing a grassroots movement.

About Mark Van Steenwyk

Mark Van Steenwyk is a member of Missio Dei. He is a speaker, writer, educator, and grassroots organizer. With the support of the Central Plains Mennonite Conference, he travels to radical and intentional communities around the country to help network and offer support.