Can we lead by Facebook?

Recent reports on youth science and technology forums have noted the growth and the speed in which technology is developing. It’s something we are all well aware of and it is generally hailed as a positive sign of progress, but do we take into consideration the impact of technological progress on human relations?

A teenager uses a laptop: do technological advances damage intergenerational
relations? (Photo:?CNS)16

Intergenerational solidarity — standing together across the generations—is one of the family themes for the year and so we can consider technology across three, or even four generations.

For the oldies trying to preserve a presence on Facebook or do some tweeting is hard work, and I don’t believe many of us really enjoy it, though some do. Parents may or may not be comfortable in that domain where the young adults and youth of today are thriving and perfectly at home.

Part of living in almost different worlds is reflected in our attitude towards one another. Have the youth lost respect for their elders, and do they look down on them as they are no longer a fount of wisdom? Is the youth’s way of instant gratification and immediately getting an answer to a question or problem creating a different mentality in them?

Do their elders feel intimidated or even stupid because they have lost their status, and with that, it seems, their power? The commonly recognised disrespect towards parents and even abuse of the elderly could be related to that.

All of us, across the generations, are faced with a need for good and effective leadership to work towards good social integration. I had a little card on my desk for some time that said: “If you are leading and no one is following, you’re just taking a walk.”

The Jesuit Institute’s Winter Living Theology had as its theme this year “The leaders we deserve”. Last month we in South Africa were caught up in many hours of exposure to voting, vote counting, results, victory speeches and comment on who and what gained in popularity. Leadership is clearly a current topic. But is it about popularity or another, less easily definable quality?

From a Catholic perspective it is in a sense a matter of evangelisation. “Furthering the spiritual and personal growth of another” must be a form of leadership. And the basic level where all this first happens is the family.

At an evening workshop on the subject, the audience was invited to name effective leaders. A few interesting observations included “my father” or “my grandmother”.

Servant leadership, the self-giving leadership of Jesus, is ideally experienced and modelled in families.

Africa is a continent of the youth, but is it all good for the youth? Are they being empowered with beliefs and attitudes for the common good?

There is little doubt that a new political party like the Economic Freedom Fighters is responding to the aspiration of the young. They want work, money, a successful future, the latest electronic gadgets and even virtual living. Do their aspirations include a future with a stable marriage, children and a home with parents to bring them up in?

Instilling the values of ubuntu and the way of Christian living can be seen as one of the challenges facing families, but one can lead a horse to water but cannot make it drink. Are we listening, guiding, able to lead one another in the most life-giving direction?

Older generations can lead by example by their own way of life, their lived values and their deep, honest communication — if necessary by means of Facebook or Twitter.