To Facebook or Not to Facebook

....that is the question.

It started innocently enough. Last summer my elementary school class celebrated its 50th anniversary. People snapped photos. Those photos were put on Facebook and I was invited to be someone's friend to see the pictures. I greatly enjoyed seeing old friends at the reunion, but didn't feel the need to relive the experience via Facebook. Saying no was easy.

Later another friend invited me to be her "friend". She had some interesting materials to share via Facebook and I was tempted, but again said no.

Recently I've been thinking that I should be on Facebook because it would be a good way to connect professionally with people who attend my seminars. It would be a way for people who might want me to do some consulting to find me. It's tempting....but I am still hesitant and so far haven't acted on this idea.

Then Sunday we had a "ministry minute" during the church service. The speaker was a youngish single man whom I fully expected to talk about new opportunities for people in his age range. Maybe he had espoused a new ministry to the hungry, the homeless or the ill. Well, he did espouse a new ministry, but not one I was expecting. Our church's new ministry is to be a presence on Facebook!

So, after I got up from falling off the pew, I thought, "Is it time?" If Jesus were here today, would He be on Facebook?

Is it time? My older son, in spite of being in the prime demographic, wants nothing to do with Facebook. My younger son is on Facebook and, I suspect, would absolutely not want to be my Facebook "friend." I respect their decisions and certainly want them to have the privacy to deal with their friends in the ways that they prefer, but would a Facebook mom with no immediate blood relatives as "friends" seem like an unlikable person?

What if my wild life style of watching Grey's Anatomy, Jeopardy, and occasional doses of HGTV or Say Yes to the Dress became public knowledge?

What if people said something negative about my seminars for the whole world to see?

What if.....What if.....

So, dear readers, please weigh in on this big decision.