How Facebook Timeline Challenges Our Desire For Control

Do you want to see people rant like lunatics? Change something on Facebook.

There has been no change in the history of Facebook that the masses have initially liked. However, it isn't long until everyone likes the new feature or change and gets on with their life.




One of the biggest changes to come along recently was when Facebook changed from "profiles" to "Timeline". I was really struck by the keynote address that Mark Zuckerberg gave to announce this change. There were two key phrases that were repeated over and over, "the story of your life" and "complete control".

Facebook is such a powerful force in the daily lives of most because it was the first means by which the masses could tell their own stories to the world. The West is fascinated with fame. People can now be famous by simply trying to be famous (see the Kardashian sisters).

There is something intoxicating about posting a status update on Facebook and having scores of people 'like' it or comment on it. You feel famous. Facebook knows that we are a people who love to tell stories and we really like telling stories about ourselves.

The other thing that Zuckerberg was driving home was this concept of "complete control". We like to tell stories and we really like to be in control. The new Timeline was to give us not just control of our stories, but complete control.

All of this is a delusion though. Delusion is defined as, "An idiosyncratic belief or impression that is firmly maintained despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality,..." We are not in control. We are certainly not in complete control. We cannot be. We are finite creatures that are dependent on so many things for our mere existence.

More specifically what we have here is evidence of Romans 1 being lived out before our eyes. We have a social media company making promises that it cannot keep. We cannot have complete control because we are creatures not the creator. 

Yet, we are drawn like moths to the flame by this promise. We in our arrogance want to be like God. We want to have complete control. It is our desire to be the captains of fate and destinies. 

I wonder, what areas in your life are you trying to hold on to control?