Is social media taking away from real life experiences? In regards to discussions based on whether or not social media hinders our ability to communicate in person, it may be moving religion and faith online as well.
In “A Tweeting Pope Raises Questions about Social Media’s Effect on the Church,” the author discusses how social media brings people online to follow sermons and practice faith. People can follow the Pope’s tweets and gather news and information from the Vatican’s Facebook page and online app. Moreover, churches are expanding online to gather a greater audience. If churches open way to social media in order to allow followers to listen to sermons online, then is our generation just getting lazy? I believe that the emergence of social media in a church would take away from the sense of a Holy space and the experience one gains from attending.
As discussed in the article, universities are beginning to raise the same questions. Should students gather online to learn and communicate with one another? For me this is a question of experiential learning. I believe that hands on experience and work would make one thrive more than logging in online in front of a computer screen. While social media can help grab a larger and more diverse audience, it also hinders the ability to be present in the physical space. For me, I believe that the church allows for a more direct connection to God, and expanding online would take away from that.
So is the expansion of social media in this sense a part of a “higher education?” I fear that it will take away from the importance of real life, hands on learning that enables one to not only connect with themselves but with others as well.
Featured image courtesy of Flickr user Ben Schumin
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