Facebook has become the new Church for users who use the social network, or at least that's what the president of the company, Mark Zuckerberg, gave to understand. In a recent interview he suggested that Facebook is taking over the role of the Church in terms of convincing people to gather in communities, which to a certain extent could prove to be true.
Facebook is turning into a place where people meet daily in large groups and discuss various social or cultural issues, in some cases there are also leaders to talk to them about it. The president of Facebook claims that the leaders of the communities are the ones who keep them together, and the decrease in the number of people who go to church has generated an increase in the communities on Facebook.
Facebook gives people the feeling that they are part of a community, as it happens in a Church, according to the president of the company. Having this feeling, people can become better with each other, they can be convinced to do charitable things and, according to the president of Facebook, the same thing is inspired by going to church, which is quite true.
Facebook has become the new church for the People
Facebook must, of course, also have many leaders who motivate people as well as pastors or priests, in some areas of the globe where this already exists. The president of Facebook claims that he has seen in many areas of the world people who are part of online communities that are as strong as those who go to church constantly, and that gave him the courage to make these statements.
Facebook will not be able to completely replace the Church for many people, but for those for whom the Church was never really important, the social network is a good substitute. Facebook can only steal from the Church those people who didn't want to be there anyway, but most of them will be part of both communities without problems.
"As I've traveled around and learned about different places, one theme is clear: every great community has great leaders. Think about it. A church doesn't just come together. It has a pastor who cares for the well-being of their congregation, makes sure they have food and shelter. If we can do this, it will not only turn around the whole decline in community membership we've seen for decades, it will start to strengthen our social fabric and bring the world closer together."
Facebook is also a place where people can be part of the same Church community when they are not present at a service, and this brings them much closer to each other. Facebook can be a new Church, which can coexist with the current one in a different sense for many people, people being able to visit both without giving up any of them, or the community.
Facebook is a worldwide phenomenon and can be transformed into anything, but I'm curious to know what you think about the statements made by the president of the company.