Social Contagion

While technology has changed the face of interpersonal communication, the personal aspect has certainly been an area of concern.  And, with people spending so much time on screens, it can be devastating to the brains of especially our young people.  The Bible directs us to be sober-minded, to renew our minds with God's truth.  1st Corinthians 2 (ESV) says:
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.
16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

The mind of Christ.  That is something we have been given - the ability to see, to process, to think critically, in accordance with Scripture.  But, we have to be trained.  And, the sharpness that we can have with a rightly-ordered mind can be dulled by the activity of social media.

And, the impact of it is currently on trial in a courtroom in Los Angeles.   CBN.com reports: "At the center of the case is a 20-year-old woman who says she started using social media at the age of 10. Her lawsuit argues that the platforms' design features kept her hooked, contributing to depression, anxiety, and struggles with her body image."

The article relates: "Internal Meta documents from 2015 estimated millions of children under the age of 13 were on Instagram, and show that CEO Mark Zuckerberg set goals to increase time spent on the app."   And, in his testimony before a jury, Zuckerberg talked about age restrictions now in place, stating, "I wish we could have gotten there sooner."   Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, however, shifted responsibility, saying that the woman, "faced many significant, difficult challenges well before she ever used social media."

The Daily Citizen, the online news arm of Focus on the Family, noted that the plaintiff, named Kayley...

...and her lawyers argue the platforms themselves cause addiction with features like infinite scroll, content recommendation algorithms and beauty filters.

Meta and Zuckerberg say the content Kayley saw on Instagram, in addition to her preexisting trauma and mental health conditions, caused her distress — not Instagram’s design.

Importantly, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act protects online content hosts, like Instagram, from being held liable for content users post to their sites.

So, one might conclude that Kayley made the choice to engage with social media, perhaps due to pre-existing factors.  Plus, these outlets are protected by federal law, a law with which Congress has been grappling for years.  The case explores whether or not the plaintiff, once drawn in by social media, could choose to get out.  The Daily Citizen notes: "Zuckerberg assumes users can leave Instagram at will. But the crux of the case against Meta is that Instagram is addictive, making it difficult or impossible for dependent users to quit without help." The article also says, "Kayley’s mom fears social media 'has changed the way [her daughter’s] brain works.'”

The article goes on to say: "Though Instagram may no longer explicitly focus on increasing usage, Zuckerberg’s testimony indicates the amount of time users spend on Instagram remains the platform’s ultimate metric of success," adding, "In other words, Meta still has incentive to make their products addictive — whether Zuckerberg admits it or not."

Sen. Marsha Blackburn did not give Zuckerberg high marks in his testimony in court, stating, "Mark Zuckerberg followed his usual playbook of denial and deceit while sitting just a few steps away from parents who have tragically lost their children as a consequence of the way his platforms are designed to harm young users..."

This case is one of 9 "test cases" involving social media companies - some 1600 civil cases have been filed, according to the Daily Citizen.

Well, it is apparent that the defense attorneys' strategy involves putting Kayley on trial, emphasizing insecurities she possessed before her social media usage.  But, the Meta business model indicates that it is intended to keep people engaged for long periods of time, which contributes to the profitability of the platforms.

Over and over again, we hear about the dangers, especially to young people, about being on social media.  This is a highly addictive communication form, and parents have a God-given responsibility, I believe, to protect and educate their children, to set boundaries, and to set guidelines for social media usage.  

From the standpoint of a Christian believer, we are told that we have the mind of Christ, so we have to make sure we guard our hearts and minds from whatever material could be harmful, that would steer us away from full devotion to Him.

We have to depend on God to manage time spent on the Internet and to glorify Him in our social interactions.  The Lord desires for us to bring Him glory in all our activities, and to resist participating in things that will not contribute to our spiritual growth.  What may seem like mindless scrolling may in fact be mind-numbing, which reduces our ability to stay sharp in our living for the Kingdom.