TWITTER: More Than Back Fence Gossip?
Sanctifying New Media Applications
(Find Mal Fletcher on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MalFletcher).
Late last year, the Israeli government announced that it would hold a worldwide press conference to field questions about its war with Hamas. Big deal, you say. But wait: they planned to do it via the Twitter web phenomenon.
TIME Magazine says, "Twitter is on its way to becoming the next killer app," and Newsweek noted that "Suddenly, it seems as though all the world's a-twitter."
Celebrities, politicians, even preachers - everyone who is anyone, it seems, is eager to start twittering. Even the US President sends "tweets" -- though it's hard to imagine that he is the one actually punching in the messages!
Where is this twittering culture taking us? And what does this mean for the person of faith who wants to break through the clutter, the white noise of Web traffic, and share something of substance?
It's vital that Christians are heavily involved with so-called "new media", because the world of tech-development increasingly sings from the Marshall McLuhan hymn-sheet. McLuhan, the great 1960s media guru, famously said: "The medium is the message"; whatever our message, the packaging often says as much as the content.
To apply that idea to sharing the Christian message: the technologies we use reflect something about the God we claim to represent. If our technologies are out-of-date, our message must also be antiquated - and so must our God!
The theologian Helmut Thieleke reminded us that we must constantly explore new ways to share our faith because our audience is constantly changing address.
Web 3, the emerging phase of the Internet, is heavily built on what the gamers call "The Architecture of Participation". Web and game designers build in pieces of code which allow us to reshape the online environment even as we use it.
Christians see participation in the world's affairs as part of their divine calling, their mandate to act as salt and light in an often dark world.
New media applications like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and the rest allow us to tell our stories of faith, showing how being a follower of Christ enriches - and challenges - everyday life.
Christian faith is rooted in a story - a very emotive and powerful story. Sometimes I think even we Christians forget this. Christian faith makes no sense unless we constantly refer back to the central story, and demonstrate how Jesus' story has become our story.
New media also allow us to participate in debate and dialogue, to explain the Christian worldview in the context of the big questions and problems of our day. Imagine the impact of sharing messages of faith and hope in the immediate aftermath of events like 9/11 or 7/7.
New media give us the opportunity to share viewpoints and encourage debate on issues that are not often presented in mainstream media. And they allow us to reveal our own humanity; to show that our faith is a journey, not just a destination; that it is grounded in day-to-day realities and remains strong even when we are not.
Seeing how our faith enhances, rather than overrides, our humanity can come as an attractive surprise to people who think Christians are out of touch with reality. Our vulnerability produces a capacity for empathy which makes our faith seem more accessible.
The world of new media also allows us to engage with the future. The most urgent question for each of us is this: 'What kind of city do we want to be living in ten years from now, and what will we do now to set that in motion?' If we don't shape the future of our cities, someone else's vision of the future will reshape us.
Being salt and light in the new media world is part of our cultural mandate, to be a city on a hill; to represent, in microcosmic form, what the world around us could be if it lived under the values of God's Kingdom.
Of course, all technologies come with a potential downside. Twitter and its other social networking siblings can become refuges for people who would rather interface with their mobile phone or PC than talk to their flesh and blood neighbour.
Let's be honest, it's often a lot easier to express a view or a deeply felt emotion when facing a screen than it is when confronted by a flesh and blood human being.
And with each new social networking or blogging application, it seems that the emphasis shifts more from substantial information to inane chatter. The sentences get shorter, the grammar gets worse, and the content becomes more futile.
Who really cares if a celebrity just bought a jacket for their dog? Who really needs to know what a politician thinks about the price of eggs at the supermarket?
Much of what people twitter about is probably not even of interest to their closest friends. If we're not careful, we may end up with a culture filled with people gossiping over the back fence.
Yet Christians need a strong presence in the world of new media. It is part of our calling to sanctify new technologies; to change the way they are used, so that God is ultimately glorified.
In short, you don't have to be a twit to twitter. If you use these applications and technologies wisely, disciplining the time you spend on them, they can become a powerful tool for building relationships and sharing your story and experience.
Copyright Mal Fletcher 2009
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