We live in a world in which technology and various forms of communication are changing not at a rapid pace, but at an accelerating pace. What was easy for everyone to understand about the practical applications of the spiritual principle of Anonymity in 1935 or 1953 or 1980 no longer stands up to the test of reality.
Reality is that if you have Facebook friends who are in recovery there is virtually no chance a friend who is not in recovery can not connect the dots if they browse your profile for a few minutes. There is no possibility of convincing enough Addicts or Alcoholics to completely safeguard their online privacy to change this fact. Not that many years ago, everyone noticed the person who carried a camera, and the film had to be developed into prints that only a few people could see at a time. Today almost everyone carries a cell phone capable of taking perhaps 100's of pictures at a time with or without the permission of those being photographed, and this occurs constantly at events and inside meeting places, and those pictures can be uploaded almost instantly to public albums where other people can tag people with their full name. This is a genie that can't be put back in the bottle.
Neither is it reasonable to expect many people to abstain from Facebook, and it would be silly to refuse to have any Facebook friends in recovery. Reality, again, is that we fellowship, network, share, get to know each other, and communicate in all manners on Facebook. I would hope that those who refuse to have an account are making an informed decision that they are cutting themselves off from all these forms of interaction. More than that, they are refusing to be a part of their fellow traveler's online life.
The core meanings of Anonymity remain the same. We all are equal, and we understand the sanctity of what is said inside a meeting. We understand that we should not run down the street advertising our membership in a fellowship. But today we must understand that participating in online communities will likely identify us publicly as an addict or alcoholic.
Times have changed in ways unforeseen by our predecessors. We can only deal with this by accepting it.
I of course have a list of NA friends and this (also posted to Facebook) will only be seen by them. Replies to this will only be seen by them. I do occasionally use that list to share things I expect would not interest non recovery friends or, in this case, something that is purely an internal issue and would definitely out anyone who replied to it, but maintaining that list makes little difference in so far as preserving anonymity.
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September 10, 2010, 02:58:20 AM
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