I think we’ve all had our ups and downs with social media. I resonate with its paradoxical state: both blessing and curse.
First, the blessing. Obviously, it is an unprecedented means of communication. Stories, news, and events can travel around the world in a matter of seconds with little to no resistance along the way. This is great, in so far as the media being shared is, likewise, great.
Another benefit of social media is the ability to share major life events with others. There is a danger here, of course, when people no longer feel the need to text, call, or check in on you to see what’s going on in your life because it’s all on social media anyway. Now I am getting into the curse. I’m sure there are other benefits to social media, but none worth mentioning here.
Second, the curse. A major danger of social media lies in its uniformity. Big stories are diluted by small stories, which means there are no big stories; the serious is impaired by the delirious, which means there is nothing serious; and the right course of action is riddled with juvenile misdirection, which means we are lost.
Life is complicated, yes, but social media takes its complications to a whole new level. Traumatic events are just a scroll from comedic chuckles; athletic challenges are interrupted by romantic messages; and prophetic words are deafened by patriotic banter. While not all stories are created equal, on social media they all look equal. Everything is reduced to another non-discriminatory pixel. The needle of truth could not possibly be found in such a haystack of lies.
But social media cannot help itself. It lacks a spiritual capacity. The conduit for the spirit is completely absent. When you encounter a person, you encounter a spirit, you encounter a soul. When you encounter a social media post, you encounter a collection of digital fragments that have been pieced together in an intelligent but non-distinct fashion. And distinction is what moves the needle. Distinction is what brings change. Distinction is what we are looking for.
Social media attempts to reduce all of life to a pixel. It is unimaginative, repetitive, and degenerative. It is unimaginative because it puts the fantasy in front of you; it is repetitive because it’s just another scroll; and it is degenerative because it detaches life from life.
The Christian’s claim for change is spiritual. No one can see or experience the Christian’s claim for change without being around the Christian. God is spiritual – though in Christ He is physical, too – yet he seems to interact the most in the spiritual and invisible realm. Hence, why Jesus said to his disciples, “it’s better for you that I leave the earth.” (John 16:7).
Social media does not bring the Christian’s claim for change because it does not bring the Spirit of the Christian. And in not bringing the Spirit of the Christian, one is not bringing the Christ of the Christian; and in not bringing the Christ of the Christian, one is not bringing the God of the Christian.
Put simply, social media is an extremely lesser form of social interaction.* But because it satisfies a couple of the five senses (i.e., sight and sound), the brain is apparently tricked into believing its social needs are satisfied, if however briefly. Thus, my message is simple: be very cautious with the new.** Because few will be around when the historians learn to write: “That wasn’t good for you.”***
/s/ Cameron M. Fathauer
*Now, if I was entirely against social media I would not be writing this blog, because this is a form of social media.
**This is actually hard to figure out nowadays. Just about everything is new now. And it just keeps getting newer. But new items are not the enemy. The enemy is new identity. Instead of identifying ourselves with our physical tribe (i.e., family and community), we create fictional labels for ourselves with @ symbols and hash tags (i.e., pound signs), in our vain attempt to replace fundamental needs with digital feeds.
***The scientists/therapists are already saying this. But who’s really listening?
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