In Depth:  social media

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Digital discipleship: Following Christ in an age of screens

Digital discipleship: Following Christ in an age of screens
Alistair Chalmers
Alistair Chalmers

We are the first generation in history to carry a portal to the world in our pockets at all times.

With a swipe, we can access news, entertainment, theological debate, and the curated lives of thousands. The digital age has not merely changed how we communicate – it has reshaped how we think, desire, worship, and relate.

This is what's missing from the social media debate

This is what's missing from the social media debate
Simon Lennox
Simon Lennox

As Parliament debates whether to ban social media for under 16s, I find myself reflecting on a new TikTok trend: people choosing to “go analogue” - rejecting screens for books, tangible hobbies and time in nature.

I’ve been reading a lot of Jonathan Haidt lately. If anyone thinks we should be spending less time online, it’s him. He writes about how social media saps our energy, attention and focus and it’s also linked to a deterioration in mental health for children and young people. Haidt argues that we are raising an anxious generation – and I find it hard to disagree with him.

To what degree should a Christian engage with the news?

To what degree should a Christian engage with the news?
Karen Soole
Karen Soole

How much responsibility do we have to know what is happening around us?

I have a relative in Australia who never listens to the news on TV or the radio and never scrolls through social media. He did not hear about the shooting at Bondi Beach until days after the event. When he did hear, he did not engage or find out more about it. Does it matter?

Smartphones, social media and parental responsibility

Smartphones, social media and parental responsibility
Graham Nicholls
Graham Nicholls

It seems that the topic of smartphones and social media for children is now part of the cultural conversation.

The UK government recently announced a consultation on banning social media for all children under 16 – something already happening in Australia.

Ban social media for under-16s?

Ban social media for under-16s?
Ben Chang
Ben Chang

In the past few weeks, the governments in both the UK and France have taken initial steps towards potentially banning social media for children and teenagers.

Recent updates

Last Tuesday, the French National Assembly voted in favour of a social media ban for under-15s. The bill will now move on to the Senate (France’s upper chamber) for a further vote.

Cybersecurity: Loving your (digital) neighbour
loving your digital neighbour

Cybersecurity: Loving your (digital) neighbour
Tristram Ridley-Jones
Tristram Ridley-Jones

It is a Tuesday morning in the church office. The administrator sits down, coffee in hand, to process the weekly DBS checks for the new Sunday School volunteers. It is a mundane, administrative task, a "Martha" moment in a world that often prizes "Mary" spirituality. But in today's day and age, this simple act of administration has become a frontline of spiritual stewardship.

Last year, the data breach involving the Access Personal Checking Services (APCS) (a third-party supplier used by many dioceses and Christian organisations) served as a stark wake-up call. It reminded us that the church is not invisible to the digital threats that prowl the modern world. For many church leaders, terms like "phishing," "ransomware," and "two-factor authentication" feel like a distraction from the Great Commission. They would rather talk about grace than firewalls.

How the gospel is going viral with LEGO

How the gospel is going viral with LEGO
Jake Owen
Jake Owen

In a former church building overshadowed by a shopping centre, a small media organisation is producing Christian content which is going viral across social media.

Go Chatter Studios is animating Biblical stories - from the prophet Jonah’s reluctant journey to Nineveh to Christ’s raising of his friend Lazarus from the dead - using the much-loved construction toy, LEGO.

TikToker documents atheist friend's faith exploration

TikToker documents atheist friend's faith exploration
Emily Pollok
Emily Pollok

Can you go from atheist to Christian in 12 weeks? This is the question that Christian influencer Jay Painter and his atheist friend Lewis are exploring together and sharing with the world via Painter’s social media platform.

Painter, who creates Christian content for his following of more than 30,000 across TikTok and Instagram, came up with the idea for the video series after his church encouraged the congregation to invite someone to the Alpha course it was running.

Online misogyny should concern believers, says Christian organisation

Online misogyny should concern believers, says Christian organisation
Lydia Houghton
Lydia Houghton

Believers should be concerned because the internet "harbours dangers that disproportionately target girls and young women," says a Christian women's organisation.

Girls' Brigade England and Wales - an organisation that helps women and girls explore the Christian faith - says online platforms "expose girls to relentless pressures, toxic role models, and gender-based abuse that corrodes self-worth and mental health." These are not Kingdom values, says the organisation, and so this issue should concern Christians "deeply."

Gentle parenting or Biblical parenting?
helping children find faith

Gentle parenting or Biblical parenting?
Ed Drew
Ed Drew

A Christian grandad has just returned from a weekend with his "clan". His children are all Christians, married to great Christian spouses and he adores his grandkids. He knows he is blessed indeed. He wanted to have a quiet word with me: “It was chaos! I can’t see how modern parenting methods can work. The parents aren’t in charge.”

Church is a place where we can compare and discuss different generations’ styles of parenting. It might not be a common or simple conversation. Most of us would walk away from a conversation about our parenting style feeling awash with insecurity, judgement and fear! My friend, the Christian grandad, remembers being obeyed the first time he gave a command. Smacking was a part of his armoury, so were big bear hugs and family Bible times. In his day, it would have been normal for children to feel an element of fear when their father confronted them over their behaviour.

Words are becoming cheapened and debased

Words are becoming cheapened and debased
Paul Yeulett
Paul Yeulett

“When words are many,” wrote Solomon – while his wisdom remained with him – “transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent” (Prov.10v19). It is a lesson that is especially timely right now.

We have never seen such a proliferation of words as we do today, due largely to the digital communication revolution. The inevitable result is that words become cheapened and debased. In the same way as a cash-strapped government discovers that mass money-printing leads to inflation, so it is with the reckless (mis)use of words. The more people talk – or text, or tweet, or emote, or sound off – the less they truly say. The purchasing power of their words is shrunk.

TikTok vicar faces huge demand for free Bibles

TikTok vicar faces huge demand for free Bibles
en staff
en staff

An evangelical vicar with a significant TikTok audience has reported that hundreds of people requested a Bible in just 24 hours earlier this month - and he is struggling to keep up with demand.

David Sims, vicar at St Thomas’ Church in Aldridge, Walsall, has more than 23,000 followers on TikTok (@TikTok_Vicar). He has used the platform since the Covid-19 lockdown to run virtual church services, read the Bible and discuss controversial topics.

Staying safe online

Staying safe online
Rebekah Brown

Book Review LEFT TO THEIR OWN DEVICES: Confident Parenting in a Digital World (4th edition with brand-new content on AI)

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Navigating our online life

Navigating our online life
Paul Jackson
Paul Jackson

Book Review SCROLLING OURSELVES TO DEATH:

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Taking back TikTok for the gospel

Taking back TikTok for the gospel
Emily Pollok
Emily Pollok

Church leader David Sims is taking back ground for the gospel on social media – sending Bibles to strangers and seeing people find faith.

“We’ve got to reclaim this back for the Lord,” said the Walsall minister, who hosts live TikTok church on the platform each week. “I think we should be using it and take every opportunity to give reason for the hope that we have.”

Leaving by X-ample?
editorial

Leaving by X-ample?
Editorial
Editorial

Across the last few months many Christian organisations and individual evangelicals are among those who have left social media platform X.

Reaction to this has been varied – do Christians have an obligation to be a light in dark places (there are over 600 million on X)? Or is our presence on the platform implicitly condoning what goes on there?

Social media apologetics after Trump
defending our faith

Social media apologetics after Trump
Chris Sinkinson
Chris Sinkinson

There is no doubt that social media and online platforms have provided opportunities for public witness and evangelism like never before.

In February 2004 Mark Zuckerburg launched Facebook, originally as a way of keeping in touch with friends; it quickly became a tool for sharing news, information and ideas.

Why do Christians keep doomscrolling?

Why do Christians keep doomscrolling?
Kirsten Birkett
Kirsten Birkett

I like the internet. I was a very early user and encouraged others to go online.

It is good to have information available, and commentary and opinion about that information. That’s what libraries do, and a huge, free, easily accessible library is a good thing to have. The problems of quality control mean we need to be discerning about said information; but that’s the case in any library.

Always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in you

Always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in you
Rebecca Chapman
Rebecca Chapman

Book Review REASONING IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE: Delivering the Changeless Message Through Ever-changing Media

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Opportunities for the gospel on social media

Opportunities for the gospel on social media
Graham Nicholls
Graham Nicholls

The average person in the UK spends at least five hours per day on the internet in addition to work-related access and a significant part of this is on social media.

Over 86 per cent of the United Kingdom’s total internet user base (regardless of age) uses at least one social media platform, obviously some more active than others.

Smartphone threats

Smartphone threats
John Woods
John Woods

Book Review THE ANXIOUS GENERATION: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness

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Influencers: yay or nay?
culture watch

Influencers: yay or nay?
Milla Ling-Davies
Milla Ling-Davies

When someone says ‘social media influencer’ do you think of a teenager dancing and taking selfies in front of the Eiffel Tower? Picturing this, it can be easy to write influencers off as immature or vain. But is this the whole story?

An influencer is a normal person, like you or me, who has ‘built a large social media following typically due to their expertise on specific topics’ (Influencer Marketing Hub). They share videos and photos about subjects like parenting, food or travel, and can have millions of people listening in. They have, surprise surprise, influence.

Christian community and today’s rising loneliness in the digital era

Christian community and today’s rising loneliness in the digital era
Patrick Parkinson

Ours is perhaps the most socially connected generation in history.

We live in an age when people can communicate almost instantaneously by email and messaging programs, talk with one another over video, and be in contact with a large number of others through social media.

Christian theology lecturer dismissed for tweet

Christian theology lecturer dismissed for tweet
en staff
en staff

This March, Dr Aaron Edwards (37) was fired from his position as a theology lecturer at Cliff College, Derbyshire, following his controversial tweet concerning homosexuality.

The tweet, shared from his personal account, went viral. It read:

Mission today: TikTok pastor clocks up online flock

Mission today: TikTok pastor clocks up online flock
Nicola Laver
Nicola Laver

An evangelical church minister has headed for the spiritual harvest fields of TikTok, one of the latest and most popular social media platforms, to evangelise a new, younger audience – and he’s starting to reap success.

David Sims, vicar of St Thomas’ Church in Aldridge, Walsall since 2021, has amassed more than 10,500 followers on his @ tiktok_vicar profile where he runs virtual church services, reads the Bible and raises controversial subjects.

Abortion, prayer – and my revealing Twitter chat

Abortion, prayer – and my revealing Twitter chat
David Shepherd
David Shepherd

A little while ago, the Oscar-winning actress Julia Roberts posted a captioned picture of herself on Facebook in response to the leak of the US Supreme Court’s draft opinion on Roe v Wade (the landmark 1973 decision that conferred a constitutional right to abortion).

She wrote: ‘Happy Mother’s Day. May we be mothers when we want, how we want and IF we want.’ [Mother’s Day in the US is on a different date to the UK.]

Social media ‘vitriol’ warning

Social media ‘vitriol’ warning
Iain Taylor, Anglican Church

In his latest address to the Provincial Council, Archbishop Foley Beach of the Anglican Church in North America has warned Christians, especially clergy, that they need to behave better on social media.

Noting that the pandemic has led to people’s fears, frustrations, anger, and concerns overflowing onto the streets and the internet, Archbishop Beach is most disconcerted by the vitriol and lack of Christian character displayed among Christians on social media. He insists that, as followers of Jesus, we should be appalled by the broad labelling, assumptions, and condemning of whole groups of people, together with the mean and personal attacks on individuals.

This is what teenagers like me are facing every day online

This is what teenagers like me are facing every day online

Esme from Sussex, aged 16, describes the feeling of isolation as a Christian teenager on social media

The first social media platform started in 1997. Twenty-three years later, social media has become its own online society. At 16, I am part of the first generation to not grow up without the Internet.

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