Social Media - A Barometer of Society

Social Media - A Barometer of Society

 

      The Social Media of a society are pretty good reflections of the heart and soul of that society.   Which comes first is hard to say.  Does the media create the way society lives and thinks or does the media simply reflect what is?  Perhaps there’s some of both.  It’s debatable.   It is still true that the media gives us a good insight into our culture. 

      Take Facebook, for instance.  It is a good barometer of contemporary society – how people think, feel, react and what’s important to them.  Some people seldom post anything except something about sports.  Others post mostly about animals.  Some post what they are eating or other such mundane activities.  Others seem to post things that make them appear to be wealthy, important or special.  No doubt all of these things are important to those who post them and they apparently are important to a lot of people who like to read them.  

      As Andy Rooney would say, “it seems to me” that Facebook mostly reflects a society that is bored and living and thinking mostly on the surface of life without much thought for the deeper or greater questions and issues of life.  It appears that life is pretty much lived and understood on a trivial level.  Many in our society rarely think beyond sports, trivia games, videos, the latest fad or movement, some Hollywood event or celebrity, or the latest movie.  The meaning of life, as seen on Facebook, is reduced to entertainment, having fun, egoisms and cute little slogans and warm fussy quotes. 

      And as usual, contemporary Christianity in America always becomes a reflection of society at large (which should tell you that it is sick and confused).  I see a lot of this reflected on the religious posts of Facebook. 

      On Facebook, as in society at large, we see a Contemporary Christianity that is really into reductionism – reducing the Christian Faith to its least common denominator so there are few doctrines or requirements of belief or practice.  This reflects the multi-culturalism and inclusive campaigns of society. 

      You see this in how all the churches these days want to drop defining names and be called something cool like New Life, or New Wine, or Celebration Ministries, or World Outreach or The Rock, etc.  -  anything that reflects being hip and cool and all-inclusive.   The name of the game is entertainment and fun.  Churches are reduced to smorgasbords with the biggest ones offering the best dishes and people choosing churches based on their appetites (passions).   Content, beyond how to live a happy, prosperous and fulfilled life (i.e. how to sanctify the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life), is absent.   Whatever resemblance to content remains is reduced to cute little quotes and slogans that fill the pages of Facebook.  They sound cute but in the end they mean nothing and serve no purpose except to entertain for a brief moment.  They are, to borrow words from Shakespeare, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing  - a good reflection of society and contemporary Christianity.