WASHINGTON (RNS)—In the world of faith-based social networking, evangelical Christian leader Mark Oestreicher commanded a huge chunk of cyberspace.
Known as “Marko,” the technological hipster amassed 4,000 Facebook friends, 1,500 Twitter followers and 2,000 daily readers of his blog. But then he decided he’d had enough—and unplugged from his online circle of friends.
Mark Oestreicher had 4,000 Facebook friends, 1,500 Twitter followers, and 2,000 daily readers of his blog before he unplugged to spend more time with his family, (from left) daughter, Liesl, 15; wife, Jeanie; and son, Max, 11. (PHOTO/RNS/Courtesy of Mark Oestreicher)
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Mark Oestreicher had 4,000 Facebook friends, 1,500 Twitter followers, and 2,000 daily readers of his blog before he unplugged to spend more time with his family, (from left) daughter, Liesl, 15; wife, Jeanie; and son, Max, 11. (PHOTO/RNS/Courtesy of Mark Oestreicher)
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“It’s not that I don’t think online connections are real. It’s just that they are perpetually superficial,” said Oestreicher, former president of Youth Specialties in El Cajon, Calif.
In an age when many religious leaders embrace the latest technology and even “tweet” from the pulpit, some—like Oestreicher—are re-assessing the potential negative impact of online overload.
“Unplugging has become essential to my spiritual journey and truly hearing God,” said Anne Jackson, an author, speaker and volunteer pastor at Cross Point Church in Nashville, Tenn. “For me, all the noise can drown that out if I’m not careful.”
Jackson, author of the book Mad Church Disease: Overcoming the Burnout Epidemic, maintains a church leadership blog at Flower-dust.net that draws 150,000 page views a month, by her estimate.
She has 6,700 Twitter followers. But earlier this year, she closed her Facebook account—saying goodbye to 2,500 friends—and committed to spend less time on Twitter and her blog. She finally acknowledged what her husband had hinted for a while: She had become a little obsessed with her online persona.
“I don’t believe everyone should quit using Facebook, or be afraid of it if one hasn’t started,” she said. “We just need to be aware of the ways any form of media can interrupt our time with God or those closest to us.”
Balance is the key, said Peggy Kendall, an associate professor of communication studies at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minn., who has researched the impact of technology on society.
She bristles at the notion that online connections are “perpetually superficial.”
“While there are certainly limitations to online communication, there are also significant benefits to communicating online that one can only rarely experience face to face,” said Kendall, author of the forthcoming book Reboot: Refreshing Your Faith in a High-Tech World.
In the old days of youth ministry, a pastor might endure years of junior high gym nights and overnight lock-in retreats before a student would feel comfortable enough to share deep hurts and uncertainties and ask authentic questions, she said.
But in an age of texting and instant messaging, a student might divulge “intensely personal things” within days of getting to know the youth pastor, Kendall said.
Students “have found that the hyperpersonal nature of online communication provides them a safe place to be real and communicate freely,” she said.
Rather than unplug entirely, Kendall advocates that people of faith periodically “fast” from technology—to assess what’s helpful about their online activities and what’s simply distracting.
This concept has become a “huge conversation” in the classes theology professor Dillon Burroughs teaches at Tennessee Temple University in Chattanooga, Tenn.
“I call it ‘digital fasting,’ although I recommend short breaks since it is like asking someone my parent’s age to stop using a phone or reading a newspaper,” said Burroughs, a former pastor who networks extensively with ministry leaders and has more than 38,000 Twitter followers.
In Oestreicher’s case, he’s not suggesting everyone delete online profiles and stop using the Internet. Rather, he said, he made a personal decision to choose “best over good” and stop constantly checking his PDA for updates.
Trying to maintain hundreds—and even thousands—of online connections distracted from his real-life relationships with his family and colleagues, he said.
Months after unplugging, he voiced surprise at how little withdrawal pains he experienced.
“I think that was primarily because I so immediately saw a return of four things I was hoping for—time, presence, focus and creativity,” he said.
“My family could tell the difference, and my co-workers also. It was rather astounding, actually.”