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Social Media in the New Year:
Can We Rise Above Outrage?
In the past decade, social media has gone from a side hobby to one of the most powerful forces shaping our culture. It influences what we believe, how we treat each other, and even how we see ourselves.
In that space, crowded with noise, conflict, and distraction, a brown-robed Franciscan Friar has built a following of thousands of people. So, what happens when the gospel meets the algorithm?
Recently, Fr. David Convertino sat down with Fr. Casey Cole, a popular podcast host and social media evangelist, to discuss the power, pitfalls, and future of faith in the digital age.
Fr. David:
Your videos reach thousands of people, but social media rewards the quick, attention-grabbing content. How do you balance the gospel with the short attention span of the digital age?
Fr. Casey:
Well, I think there are two parts to this. Sometimes it’s a short attention span. I think longer videos have done really well in the last couple of years. But really, the bigger pitfall is anger. Anger really motivates people. And so, there’s a temptation sometimes to produce content that evokes an emotional response. And that is dangerous, I think. I think there are a lot of people out there trying to prey on how we feel.
And hopefully I’m one trying to bring some thoughtfulness, some reconciling thoughts to say, “Let’s think about this a little more deeply.” But there is that temptation that we have to fight all the time.
Fr. David:
Tell me a little more about that, about the anger.
Fr. Casey:
Yeah, I mean, we’re an outrage culture these days. And so, I think it’s very easy to get angry about things. It’s much more difficult to have a broken heart. We think, oh, I don’t want to have a broken heart. But actually, a broken heart allows it to be open a little bit more to feel for our enemies, to see those people who maybe do bad things and say, well, they’re hurt as well.
Social media doesn’t like that second step. It just says, this person’s bad. I hate them. Now I feel good about myself because I’m better than them. It’s easy. It gets you lots of clicks, but it doesn’t help society.
Fr. David:
So, putting down people really kind of bolsters your ratings?
To learn more from Fr. David and Fr. Casey’s conversation, read Franciscan Faces: The Future of Faith in the Digital Age in this month’s Franciscan Way Newsletter. To see, hear, and enjoy the entirety of their conversation, tune in to “Friar Time” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBm36jUhkAc