As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
It is no revelation that social media are dominant forms of communication in this digital age, but the stats are breathtaking. A remarkable 78% of 18-24 year olds in the U.S. use Snapchat, and 94% of that age demographic are regular YouTube users, while 71% use Instagram. More than two-thirds (68%) of all U.S. adults use Facebook, and 75% of those users are daily users.
“Long-running internecine media feuds, emblematic of the degradation of mass media as they are, are merely the smoke set off by the burning desire for one, all-consuming narrative….The only story we need to get straight is the story that really matters. Grounded in that story, the greatest ever told, we can deepen our understanding of ourselves and our world.
I wrote last week about my enthusiasm for online ministry, and my view that one good result of the current crisis is that it has forced us to sharpen our online presence—while it has also given us the opportunity to do so.
“Managing social media for a large Christian organization, I see Christians shine the bright light of the gospel and mercilessly eviscerate others online every single day. I fear many of us have fallen into feedback loops created by algorithms intended to generate engagement, and have lost sight of our calling to be known by our mutual love (John 13:34–35).” - TGC
“The relative lack of messages from those doing science, or from good science journalists, leaves the marketplace open for messages from other sources and outlets that are talking about science. These sources generally have interests that are independent of science or are often increasingly opposed to science.” - Paul Lewis Metzger
“2. People are moving from public spaces to private spaces….These days, private social media spaces are starting to get a lot more attention. Features like Facebook Groups, Instagram direct messages, and apps like Snapchat all continue to grow in popularity.” - BP News
“I was, am, and will remain very sorry for the careless and hurtful words that were illegally recorded and publicized,” the apology states. “I immediately sent written apologies where appropriate, grieving what it revealed about the state of my heart at the time, as well as the hurt caused to those who trusted us to be a more consistent example of Christlikeness.
“A large newspaper can easily control their own writers and contributors. So, too, can a cable news channel or a network. But there is no practical way that a social media platform can exercise meaningful supervision over the material that billions of people could potentially share.” - Acton
“Union Seminary’s actions deserve criticism; confessing and praying to plants is full-on paganism and should be named as such. But deserving criticism and even denunciation does not supersede Jesus’ commands to speak and act charitably nor undo Paul’s admonition found in Ephesians 5 where followers of Christ are commanded to ‘walk in love, as Christ loved us.’” - John Ellis
“The report [by law firm Covington & Burling] did not present any case studies to support those concerns, so WORLD examined one specific bias claim in an attempt to see how Facebook’s fact-checkers work. Before we get to our analysis, though, it’s important to understand the power Facebook has.” - WORLD
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