[Image courtesy of Nadine Doerle, open source]
There was a time when American Evangelicals thought it would be possible to run our institutions parallel to their secular counterparts. We have established Christian schools, Christian universities, Christian businesses, Christian banks, Christian health shares, all in an effort to live in ways that align with our values and commitment to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
But modern technology renders it nearly impossible to reduce or eliminate the influence of the world on Christian families. Your children can spend every waking moment inside of Christian institutions, but if they have an internet connection, they will be assaulted by the world. That assault will come through channels we've considered before, such as TV programming or music. But much more likely, and far more spiritually (and at times physically) dangerous, it will come through social media.
For worse, social media today is the single greatest influence on our country, on the social and moral formation of our children, and on cultural development. And that influence is profoundly negative and depressing.
Now I am aware of the irony of this situation. I write this on a blog, and most of my readers will read it by following a link shared via social media. Such is the reality of modern life. You have to fight the battle on the battlefield where the fighting is taking place.
Now I am aware of the irony of this situation. I write this on a blog, and most of my readers will read it by following a link shared via social media. Such is the reality of modern life. You have to fight the battle on the battlefield where the fighting is taking place.
The point is it is nearly impossible to shelter your children. Yes, you can restrict what they watch (and you should do so). You can limit the places where they spend time. But unless we prohibit entirely their contact with social media, we cannot eliminate the worldly influence that WILL come through it.
By "worldly influence" I don't predominately mean popular movies, music, or even advertisements. I mean social media culture. Social media culture is a distinct subculture, if not the dominant subculture, of American life. And it will enculturate you and your children into an irrational world of emoting, randomness, superficial relationships, and disconnectedness. It will give the illusion of emotional connection to others while making the reality of such connection impossible.
I write this based on experience. I routinely have young men tell me they have "girlfriends" they have never met, and are in "relationships" mediated entirely over social media. And I think these relationships are substantively different than the long-distance relationships of the past carried on via letters. Neil Postman famously argued you cannot separate the medium from the message. We are trying to use the medium of social media for messages it is incapable of truly conveying. The result is a severe disconnect between intent and reality. The more people depend on social media to convey messages it is not capable of conveying, the greater that disconnect becomes and the more harmful to our psyche the result.
Social media, in its essence, is a denial of the human soul. It effectively says the message can be divorced from the person conveying it and the person to whom it is conveyed. It says there is nothing more to the message than what is written or filmed or photographed, and it says this by promising a level of connection that it simply cannot deliver. Remember that websites like Facebook are designed, and they are designed for certain purposes. What is that purpose? According to Mark Zuckerberg, “We want to help 1 billion people join meaningful communities. If we can do this it will not only reverse the whole decline in community membership we’ve seen around the world… but it will also strengthen our social fabric and bring the world closer together.” This stated purpose, however, is self-defeating; social media doesn't reduce social isolation and may actually increase depression and anxiety.
I'm not saying that you should never let your kids on the internet or use any form of social media. Being conversant with technology is necessary to function in our broader society. I am saying we need to exercise careful vigilance with respect to how our kids use social media, what apps they have on their phones and other devices, and how much of their life is mediated through a screen. Further, we must carefully watch what effect all of this is having on their heart. Jesus said where our treasure is, there our heart will be also (Matthew 6:21).
What I am really saying is the most concerning impact of social media is how it enculturates us. What does it teach us to think about relationships, about communication, about entertainment, about what really matters in life? Social media is answering those questions for your children, and the answers it is teaching are not good. Social media lies to us about human nature, about what it means to relate to one another, and about what is ultimately important in life. And it doesn't tell this lie with explicit banners or nihilistic memes (though those exist). It tells this lie by teaching us to behave in a certain way, by teaching us to crave likes, notifications, and attention. It tells this lie by consuming time that should otherwise be spent in vigorous activity, in face-to-face relationships, and in true communion with God and with one another.
My parting thought is this: Social media often makes us think it is the most important thing in our lives. Yet it provides no means of relating to God, and indeed it *cannot* do so. If we aren't careful, unmitigated and thoughtless social media use leads us to practical atheism.
By "worldly influence" I don't predominately mean popular movies, music, or even advertisements. I mean social media culture. Social media culture is a distinct subculture, if not the dominant subculture, of American life. And it will enculturate you and your children into an irrational world of emoting, randomness, superficial relationships, and disconnectedness. It will give the illusion of emotional connection to others while making the reality of such connection impossible.
I write this based on experience. I routinely have young men tell me they have "girlfriends" they have never met, and are in "relationships" mediated entirely over social media. And I think these relationships are substantively different than the long-distance relationships of the past carried on via letters. Neil Postman famously argued you cannot separate the medium from the message. We are trying to use the medium of social media for messages it is incapable of truly conveying. The result is a severe disconnect between intent and reality. The more people depend on social media to convey messages it is not capable of conveying, the greater that disconnect becomes and the more harmful to our psyche the result.
Social media, in its essence, is a denial of the human soul. It effectively says the message can be divorced from the person conveying it and the person to whom it is conveyed. It says there is nothing more to the message than what is written or filmed or photographed, and it says this by promising a level of connection that it simply cannot deliver. Remember that websites like Facebook are designed, and they are designed for certain purposes. What is that purpose? According to Mark Zuckerberg, “We want to help 1 billion people join meaningful communities. If we can do this it will not only reverse the whole decline in community membership we’ve seen around the world… but it will also strengthen our social fabric and bring the world closer together.” This stated purpose, however, is self-defeating; social media doesn't reduce social isolation and may actually increase depression and anxiety.
I'm not saying that you should never let your kids on the internet or use any form of social media. Being conversant with technology is necessary to function in our broader society. I am saying we need to exercise careful vigilance with respect to how our kids use social media, what apps they have on their phones and other devices, and how much of their life is mediated through a screen. Further, we must carefully watch what effect all of this is having on their heart. Jesus said where our treasure is, there our heart will be also (Matthew 6:21).
What I am really saying is the most concerning impact of social media is how it enculturates us. What does it teach us to think about relationships, about communication, about entertainment, about what really matters in life? Social media is answering those questions for your children, and the answers it is teaching are not good. Social media lies to us about human nature, about what it means to relate to one another, and about what is ultimately important in life. And it doesn't tell this lie with explicit banners or nihilistic memes (though those exist). It tells this lie by teaching us to behave in a certain way, by teaching us to crave likes, notifications, and attention. It tells this lie by consuming time that should otherwise be spent in vigorous activity, in face-to-face relationships, and in true communion with God and with one another.
My parting thought is this: Social media often makes us think it is the most important thing in our lives. Yet it provides no means of relating to God, and indeed it *cannot* do so. If we aren't careful, unmitigated and thoughtless social media use leads us to practical atheism.
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