Twenty years ago, the phrase “social media” would have meant nothing to almost everyone.  

Today, however, social media—which I will define as any internet-based platform that gives users the ability to communicate publicly and share various multimedia—dominates the time and attention of billions around the world. We now live in the social media age. 

In response to this new technological era, Christians have largely sorted themselves into two differing perspectives on social media use: 1) its use is a matter of wisdom, and its morality depends solely on the way it’s employed; or 2) its use inevitably leads to moral and spiritual compromise. Both stances are understandable—as they contain a kernel of truth—but both fall short of true prudence. 

I propose a third stance: social media does not inevitably lead to compromise, but is designed with a built-in bias to encourage vice over virtue. To show this, I will list eight dangers of social media use, followed by three benefits. First, the dangers:

1. Social media encourages communication that is not truly social. If the most desired form of communication is in-the-flesh, face-to-face interaction (2 Jn 12; 3 Jn 13-14), social media can’t provide this by its very nature. What’s more, if truly God-pleasing communication is to build others up according to their needs by our words (Eph 4:29), social media is inclined to promote just the opposite: the self.  Instagram, for example, invites you to craft the latest version of “your story”; Or, as Facebook asks, “What’s on your mind?”

2. Social media reveals the idols of our hearts. Most data displayed on social media feeds is comprised of things that are of ultimate importance to its users. Since unredeemed humanity does not seek God and has turned away from Him (Ro 3:10-20), and even Christians are so easily entangled by sin (Heb 12:1; 1 Jn 5:21), idolatry—even of good things—is given prominence over the glory of God.

3. Social media makes it easy to misrepresent God or speak of Him irreverently. When we consider the surpassing greatness of God and all that He is (Job 38-42; Ro 11:33-36), even an acknowledgment of Him through the “bite-size”, “blink-and-it’s-gone” nature of social media can easily come across as glib, reductionistic, or shallow.

4. Social media accommodates our proclivity to slander others, especially those in authority. This is so easy to do—especially when those with authority in the political, academic, corporate, and health arenas commit injustices against us and other citizens. But Scripture commands us to submit to and pray for our leaders (Rom 13:1-7; 1 Pe 2:13-16; 1 Ti 2:1-4), even as we expose their deeds of darkness, as well as those of others (Eph 5:11).

5. Social media all too often exposes us to images that encourage lust in our hearts. This needs no elaboration. Suffice it to say that our Lord condemns the desire of what he has forbidden—not only as revealed in our actions, but even as found in our thoughts (Mt 5:27-30; Mk 7:20-22).

6. Social media prompts us to speak falsehoods about people, events, and situations (Prov. 13:5, Col 3:9-10). This is especially so if we think we may benefit from such lies (e.g. Gal. 1:10, 1 Tim. 6:10). Social media platforms encourage such behavior because their professional sheen—made possible through layouts, graphics and fonts—makes falsehoods more “presentable” and therefore plausible.

7. Social media easily facilitates “informational greed”. Our Lord warned us to be on our guard “against all covetousness” (Lk 12:15), not just the more obvious love of money (1 Ti 6:10). Unfortunately, the astonishing volume of information on social media (some of which contains valuable insight) can propel many of us to fill our heads with as much knowledge as we can possibly take in. Consequently, we can easily mislead ourselves into thinking that simply possessing knowledge is tantamount to wisdom, and we can get puffed up (1 Co 8:1).

8. Social media gives us opportunities to present other people’s information as our own. We may not be as inclined to this activity as the others described above, but we shouldn’t think we’re incapable of it. It is a form of stealing (Mk 10:19; Eph 4:28).

In light of all these dangers, one may easily ask, “Why bother with social media?”

I believe a wise use of social media—especially for the purpose of sharing resources and receiving information—has a leg up on traditional media, especially television and radio. How? In three ways:

1. Social media features, or at least provides access to, podcasts. These often allow us to hear prolonged conversations between or among individuals, which can give us a greater understanding of people and their views (e.g. Pr 2:1-11).  In contrast, on traditional TV or radio, interviews or dialogues often only have an illusion of depth; they hardly ever scratch the surface of issues because of traditional media’s built-in time constraints.

2. Social media gives a voice to journalistic efforts from many citizens who have relatively little to gain and much to lose. This is true of some platforms (X—formerly Twitter—and Substack) more than others (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.) and the fact that these efforts can be featured does not always mean they constitute good journalism. However, when we consider that these citizens are not as likely to be incentivized by powerful ideological interests through the lure of money and can easily be “cancelled”, they encourage us to take notice and grant them a listening ear. Of course, we need to be as discerning when considering their posts as we are with any other source.

3. Social Media’s access to a huge number of different news sources makes immediate updates on stories more possible. With traditional TV, radio, or news magazines, you can learn of a news story, but then not hear of it again for days, weeks, or even months. We must remember that a very important consideration for most traditional media when featuring any news story is how attention-grabbing or entertaining the story is. But if, for example, you are using X and want an update on a certain story, you can type the pertinent story-related topic in its search engine, and more likely than not you will get an update—albeit possibly from a different source (and one which may or may not be reliable; we must still be very discerning). 

Finally, there is one more surprisingly positive aspect of social media that many of us Christians seem to overlook. 

Consider that the author of Hebrews commands Christians in Chapter 3 to “encourage each other daily, as long as it is called ‘Today’, so that you may not be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness” (emphasis added). However, in this day and age, it is so difficult to interact with fellow Christians on a day-to-day basis. In part, this is because we simply don’t see each other daily, especially since we tend to have such different life schedules from each other. Also, we need to give priority to those people who require our interaction (e.g. family members, coworkers). What’s more, it’s considered strange to phone one another every day (though some fellow Christians who are the best of friends may do this).

But social media can allow us to interact daily. Even by something as simple as displaying one of God’s promises from Scripture, a Christian can greatly spur fellow believers on to run the race of the Christian life and bolster their trust in, and obedience to, the King of Kings.

As I bring these thoughts about social media to a close, what tips could be offered to encourage our wise social media use?

1. Choose faithful friends (Pr 18:24, 20:6) and wise resources (Pr 2:1-11) to “follow”, and pay relatively little attention to anyone or anything else. Don’t let the number of “friends” or resources  concern you. When it comes to resources - especially news sources - if you’re not sure which ones are worth following, ask wise and trustworthy Christian social media users.

2. Use social media as a “handmaiden” to good communication, but prioritize face-to-face interaction with people (2 Jn 12, 3 Jn 13-14). For example, when seeing friends’ social media posts about their most recent vacation, you can use this as a “springboard” to facilitate good, other-centered interaction (Eph 4:29) the next time you see them.

3. Remember the short time we’re given on this earth (Eph 5:15-16) and do not allow your use of social media to take up more of this time than that spent in the Scriptures, prayer, work and home responsibilities, face-to-face interactions with others, or profitable reading.