Faith & Facebook
Is it possible to like, comment and post to the glory of God on Facebook? It’s complicated.
What does it profit someone to gain marginal technological conveniences, but forfeit their soul? The answer may depend on whether or not the costs of such conveniences are, conveniently, passed on to others instead.
Surveillance, policing online spaces, and the power of platforms to shape users are just some of the unseen costs of the current online world. Although Facebook and other tech companies encourage us to think of the internet as a digital public square, actually what most offer are private squares open to the public – in the case of Facebook, nearly 2.5 billion active users.
If such companies want to play at being a public good, they have a responsibility to put people above profit. They do not.
Although some of us are starting to feel the need to reflect on the costs and benefits of Facebook, as Christians we may feel this even more strongly. Just as the gospel demands we bring a distinctly gospel-formed witness to our participation in all spheres of life, it demands we bring that witness online.
Is it possible to like, comment and post to the glory of God on Facebook? It’s complicated.