The Internet is ruining your brain - an interesting gif
Dr Rick Griffith teaches at Singapore Bible College, where he has served for more than 20 years. Dr Rick Griffith trained at Dallas Theological Seminary where he received in Th.M and PhD.
1. it’s creating a den of comparison
2. it’s fragmenting our time
3. there’s a decline of close relationships
At supper yesterday after prayer meeting, I was talking to some brothers and sisters and this conversation came up: should the church start a blog?
Initially, the issue was raised as one of random interest- would it be helpful if someone started liveblogging during the sermon (now our series is in Ephesians), taking down the major points, capturing the cross-references etc. Would it be helpful for those unable to attend? Would it distract those present? Would it help to heighten our study of Scripture? After all, we write copious sermon notes right now anyway - wouldn’t it be helpful to make those notes (assuming accuracy) available publicly so that people can have the option of glancing at the sermon notes in one instant rather than sit through another 45 minutes of our online sermons?
Similarly, the worship ministry could post up the song set for the week, complete with youtube links so that the interested congregation member could go home and easily learn the songs, if not be ministered by the words. Sometimes the way we flash song lyrics for a few seconds at a time really doesn’t make the poetic powers of words and songs available to people.
The conversation also swerved to serving prayer purposes and making announcements available to people. After all, people these days are more inclined (at least the tech-savvy) to using RSS feeds or blog posts rather than download clunky pdfs.
We also noticed that at present, technology had already been launched and was being used for some of these purposes. In two separate groups, online information was being traded. On one platform, a yahoogroup/mailing list was in effect, with prayer requests and other urgent updates and prayer needs were being published regularly. On another hand, an unofficial facebook group was also in play, with more than a third of the church ‘joining’ the group - it was used for announcements, random edifying links and other things - but most recently, missionary prayer requests and updates. It was also commented that the information on the facebook group actually predated the monthly prayer info, thus indicating that the facebook page was becoming a platform for rapid, instant communication, bypassing the paper channels.
A yahoogroup has a high barrier to entry, as interested parties must make the physical effort to contact the moderator and be added to the list. This appeals to a traditional group of users, typically of an older persuasion, and the usage tends to reflect that value system. A more current, but in-house view tends to be in play, as accessibility is limited, thus ensuring that privacy and limited circulation is upheld. In contrast, the facebook platform has a younger appeal base, due to its prior-subscription-to-facebook feature. This simply means that people who use facebook have this option of rallying around a church identity. The barriers to entry are low, if not self-regulated, and as a result, accessibility is not really limited. Regulation is low, although usage is high. But the two groups appeal to entirely different groups of users in the same community. Or are they actually two communities?
What is happening here? Simply put, technology is changing the way we think about communication, and the way we think about communities. The features of platforms, their appeal and their design-function, are all a part of challenging our expectations and shaping the way groups of people share information, exclude others from it, and live on a daily basis.
Food for thought: how is technology changing the way we live as community?
@4 months ago with 1 note
Deadly sins…and social media.
Have the 7 deadly sins taken on a different form in the 21st century?
Dr Rick Griffith teaches at Singapore Bible College, where he has served for more than 20 years. Dr Rick Griffith trained at Dallas Theological Seminary where he received in Th.M and PhD.
At supper yesterday after prayer meeting, I was talking to some brothers and sisters and this conversation came up: should the church start a blog?
Initially, the issue was raised as one of random interest- would it be helpful if someone started liveblogging during the sermon (now our series is in Ephesians), taking down the major points, capturing the cross-references etc. Would it be helpful for those unable to attend? Would it distract those present? Would it help to heighten our study of Scripture? After all, we write copious sermon notes right now anyway - wouldn’t it be helpful to make those notes (assuming accuracy) available publicly so that people can have the option of glancing at the sermon notes in one instant rather than sit through another 45 minutes of our online sermons?
Similarly, the worship ministry could post up the song set for the week, complete with youtube links so that the interested congregation member could go home and easily learn the songs, if not be ministered by the words. Sometimes the way we flash song lyrics for a few seconds at a time really doesn’t make the poetic powers of words and songs available to people.
The conversation also swerved to serving prayer purposes and making announcements available to people. After all, people these days are more inclined (at least the tech-savvy) to using RSS feeds or blog posts rather than download clunky pdfs.
We also noticed that at present, technology had already been launched and was being used for some of these purposes. In two separate groups, online information was being traded. On one platform, a yahoogroup/mailing list was in effect, with prayer requests and other urgent updates and prayer needs were being published regularly. On another hand, an unofficial facebook group was also in play, with more than a third of the church ‘joining’ the group - it was used for announcements, random edifying links and other things - but most recently, missionary prayer requests and updates. It was also commented that the information on the facebook group actually predated the monthly prayer info, thus indicating that the facebook page was becoming a platform for rapid, instant communication, bypassing the paper channels.
A yahoogroup has a high barrier to entry, as interested parties must make the physical effort to contact the moderator and be added to the list. This appeals to a traditional group of users, typically of an older persuasion, and the usage tends to reflect that value system. A more current, but in-house view tends to be in play, as accessibility is limited, thus ensuring that privacy and limited circulation is upheld. In contrast, the facebook platform has a younger appeal base, due to its prior-subscription-to-facebook feature. This simply means that people who use facebook have this option of rallying around a church identity. The barriers to entry are low, if not self-regulated, and as a result, accessibility is not really limited. Regulation is low, although usage is high. But the two groups appeal to entirely different groups of users in the same community. Or are they actually two communities?
What is happening here? Simply put, technology is changing the way we think about communication, and the way we think about communities. The features of platforms, their appeal and their design-function, are all a part of challenging our expectations and shaping the way groups of people share information, exclude others from it, and live on a daily basis.
Food for thought: how is technology changing the way we live as community?
1. it’s creating a den of comparison
2. it’s fragmenting our time
3. there’s a decline of close relationships
