Social Media is the Devil: Like and Share this Post
For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
We all love underdog stories. Whether it be movies like Rudy or Mighty Ducks, team Jacob over team Edward (I preferred Edward, to be honest), Hufflepuff over the other three “better” houses, or any NBA team versus the KD era Warriors.
There is something right about rooting for someone you know is likely to lose. Palpably seeing the odds are against them, you root them on, vicariously thinking, believing, and hoping that if they can beat the odds, so can you.
The Gospel itself lends itself to this kind of narrative. So many passages read as intended entirely for underdogs, for any who feel they can’t quite cut it or aren’t quite good enough to be in the limelight or to be ‘favored.’ God seems to prefer underdogs, actually.
“Then (Jesus) said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.’"
“The greatest among you will be your servant.”
“God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
“Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth; an outsider, and not your own lips.”
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interest of others.”
Cool story bro, but what does this have to do with social media? And how is it the devil?
I have to put a disclaimer here about how, in some ways, social media is not the devil.
It has allowed people who are far away some semblance of being close.
It has united entire groups of people more closely together, whether it be sports fans, specific niche nerd groups, political groups (I’ll talk about how this is bad later), etc. etc.
It gives you information about people you wouldn’t otherwise have: pictures of their kids, their weddings, their vacations (more on how that is bad later), etc. etc.
I think that about concludes it.
Now, even more disclaimer-y information; at this point, social media is essential for some. The creatives, the entrepreneurs, the party planner types. And for these purposes, social media is great.
And yet… can we talk? Can we be real, for just a moment?
How often do you walk away from social media encouraged? How often do you log off from extended sessions feeling a boost in your esteem? How often are you blessing others while on it? How is your mental health benefitting from time spent on it? How is it, actually, drawing you closer to other people? Drawing you closer to God?
To be cheesy and pretty damn cliche, what would Jesus think of social media? What would He post?
I am not going to land this plane by saying we should disavow social media, that it is a terrible idol that only “true” Christians will give up. Because I don’t like that guy, and I don’t want to be that guy.
However, I would like to say that I believe social media to be the devil because it enhances our ever-increasing feelings of envy, depression, anxiety, and a long list of other bad things and very short list of kinda good things.
Did FOMO exist before social media? Perhaps, but social media exacerbated it at least tenfold.
Did celebrities and certain politicians condescendingly berate political or cultural rivals? Sure, but social media made this problem a lot, lot worse.
Did families used to have awkward Thanksgiving dinners with that crazy uncle or racist aunt? Yes, but now we extend this awkward dysfunction outward publicly for all to see with a click of a mouse or a press of a button.
Did we used to feel jealous of our peers who had the ideal job, a super attractive spouse, beautiful, perfect kids, and unlimited funds for great, exotic vacations? Of course, but now I see that from four or five acquaintances and several dozen barely-associated-to-me folks.
You can dismiss all of this by saying “just ignore it” or “it doesn’t affect me” or “I am only friends with those I actually know.”
But, can we, truly, honestly, talk?
According to an article from Behavioral Health of the Palm Beaches, “when social media and depression are compared, it was determined that those who used social media the most were about 2.7 times more likely to be depressed than participants who used social media the least.”
Even a simple Google search produces dozens and dozens of articles affirming this.
The alternative to this?
A true and earnest desire to be friends and friendly to those around us. The time spent, and I would argue, wasted on that which harms one’s well-being, we should spend, instead, on developing connections with those actually around you. Those who actually see you on the daily. Those who actually give you a ride to the airport even when it’s inconvenient. Those who actually hear about your crappy day at work. Those who actually know you struggle with depression. Those who would call you and convince you of all the ways life is beautiful, wonderful, and worth it when you are moments from stopping it all.
Not your Facebook friends.
Not your Instagram or Twitter followers.
Not your YouTube subscribers.
Those who actually know you, love you, care for you, and are there for you, no matter what.
These people smell like Christ. Not your social media friends.
Finally, a story to illustrate this all the more.
I have a friend, who shall remain nameless, is pretty famous on Instagram. I had lunch with this friend and we had a good conversation. At this point we were still “feeling” each other and not quite friend friends. Although we followed each other on Instagram.
You know what stopped this continued connection? I did. I saw how popular he was on Instagram and I judged him. I wished I could be as well liked, as well acclaimed, and as well known as he is. I didn’t ask to hang out again (even though apart of me wanted to).
But he didn’t care. He reached out to me. Asked if I wanted to play basketball. So I went. After playing, we talked about his fame, talked about my lack of it, talked about our lives, talked about our struggles, talked about our love for Christ.
Now I consider him one of my closer friends. But it was my tainted perspective, the one which I always have while scrolling through social media, that almost halted such a quality friendship.
I won’t assume everyone is like this on social media, but I’d be willing to bet most if not all who read this can somewhat resonate with this story.
Let us then, you and me, learn to spend less time on social media and more time learning to love each other better. Let’s learn to be like the friend I mentioned above to others. Let’s drive others to the airport, not like and/or share their post. Let’s hear about their crappy day at work, instead of posting about how amazing our job is. Let’s be the one to answer a phone call that can single-handedly save a life, instead of spending time doing something that might cause us to be the one to call.
But before you do that, please like and share this post.
Thank you.
;)