What Does Social Media Do to Our Mind (Evangelizing Social Media, part 2)

Last updated on: August 1, 2018 at 2:57 pm by Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC

What Does Social Media Do to Our Mind (Evangelizing Social Media, part 2) 2018-08-01T14:57:57-04:00 Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

We all know social media changes our mind, but how does it change our mindset? We’ve all probably heard a story of online bullying or about widely-shared fake news but what drives these behaviors? We know interactions on social media are different from offline, but how are they different? And how does this change us?

This is the second video in my series on evangelizing social media and hopefully, it can answer those questions. If you haven’t seen the first video, I strongly encourage you to do so as it gives some background and history. These videos were recorded from talks I gave a small group.

Main Ways Social Changes Our Mindset

I want to outline a few of the key ways social media affects our mind: watching the video gives you much more information.

Social Media is now becoming invisible and assumed in society. How is my mindset changed by pulling out my phone 10 minutes after meeting someone to become their friend on Facebook? Does invisibility give it more or less power over me?
Twitter, Facebook, etc. make most of their money off ads so want us to view more ads. How do their commercial interests affect how we experience it?
Brandon Vogt said in 2011, “New Media tends to cultivate relationships that are a mile wide and an inch deep… New Media’s sporadic content makes it difficult to sustain long, in-depth conversations offline.” Does that still apply? Is social media making us more superficial?
Our society is already subjective and kind of narcissistic focusing on the individual. Instagram and other social media seem to promote that too, or do they really?
Have you heard of the Online Disinhibation Effect? It is a form of online lack of civility and groupthink. Almost double the percent of anonymous comments were rude.
What mindset gets to the top on social media vs. a pre-literate or mass media society?
Erik Qualman noted, “What happens in Vegas stays on YouTube.” How does permanence affect social relationships?

I cover all of these in the video.

Concluding Notes

I will gladly give these or similar presentations on social media for Catholic organizations (parishes, schools, dioceses, etc.), simply use the contact form on this site.
Please stay tuned for more. I will be posting one a week for the next two weeks.

Other Talks in the Series

You can subscribe to the YouTube playlist if you want to see them all.

Talk #1 is a basic outline and history of social media. Talk #3 is on evangelizing a social media culture. The Last talk is on evangelizing on social media.

Previous Post

July 18, 2018

UK Bioethics Group Approves Genetic Engineering Babies: What's Wrong With That?

Next Post

July 24, 2018 Evangelizing the Social Media Mindset & Culture (Evangelizing Social Media, part 3)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Autism Bioethics Book Review Business and Economics Catholic Social Teaching Culture Diocesan Life Disability Discipleship Euthanasia Family Life Genetics Global Politics History Immigration Inspiration Interview Liturgy Moral Theology My Life News Analysis Original Articles Prayer Privacy Pro-Life Science Sexual orientation or identity Social Media Sports Technology Theology Uncategorized US Politics Vatican

Select a Month March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz