Compromise For Facebook Users

(published in The Jakarta Post on 27 May 2009. Click here)

I smiled when I learned that Facebook worried some Muslim clerics. Hundreds of clerics from the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) from Java and Bali gathered in Kediri and eventually issued a fatwa banning the use of Facebook and other online social networks. I do appreciate their responsibility and concern for what has been happening in the Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) today.

The clerics said students (or 'santri' as they are commonly called) in Islamic boarding schools tend to spend excessive amounts of time on Facebook. It totally disturbs their concentration for their main task, which is to study hard, said Nabil Haroen, the spokesman for the Lirboyo boarding school in Kediri, East Java.

As well as this, Facebook facilitates virtual communication among friends that will be used for chatting, gossiping, even flirting, which will cause the users to commit the sin of lust, whereas traditional Muslim norms determine a separation between male and female students. On Facebook, users, regardless of gender, may communicate freely, share stories with each other as well as exchange photos.

How has Facebook made people addicted? It is not only for students, professionals and businesspeople, but also for housewives around the world, particularly in Indonesia. Housewives who usually spend time with their children and take care of their husbands, now are eager to sit in front of their laptops for hours on Facebook.

With Facebook, lost friends can be traced quickly, no matter where they are. There is no hiding place on Facebook, as everybody can find you easily. Do you want to use a pseudonym? What's the point? You will not get any friends. And why join Facebook if you want to be alone?

I believe thousands of people have been led to school reunions with their long-lost classmates after joining Facebook. There are lots of nice, sentimental stories from people after separated couples, friends, relatives and families were connected and reunited by Facebook.

I can understand the clerics's agitation over Facebook today; because their students prefer to chat with friends on Facebook rather than study, especially when the clerics learned the students were able to access indecent content via Facebook. The phenomenon has been seriously worrying the clerics, as getting Internet access today is as simple as flipping the palm of one's hand. The students may become more social ('gaul') than before once they are on Facebook.

This is similar to my wife when she dives for hours into Facebook. She stays up all night on Facebook without thinking about her health or other more important things to do. No coffee and no breakfast provided for me in the mornings, because she wakes up late.

However, I will not prohibit my wife from accessing Facebook after seeing her happiness when she unexpectedly meets old friends and has nostalgic chats with them. Honestly, I could not bring myself to take these happy moments away from her. Shouldn't I give her a bit freedom and time to enjoy talking to her friends after taking care of household affairs all day? I just ask: "Please remember me, dear."

Technological development has been growing so rapidly today and will continue to grow. Like it or not, that is what is happening in our lives. So, rather than trying to stop the technology, we have to come to understand it, then utilize it wisely.

But new technology will always create an impact, whether a positive or negative one. This time, I would agree with Amidhan, the Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI) chairman for not issuing a fatwa to ban Facebook. Instead of prohibiting his grandchildren accessing Facebook, he just keeps an eye on them when they are on Facebook. That is a good compromise sir.

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Serpong, 25 May 2009
Titus J.