We’ve all been there—mindlessly scrolling through our social media feeds, only to look up from the blue-lit glow to wonder where the time’s gone. Our phones ping and we reach for them without thought. Even when our phone doesn’t demand…
In conversation with Kevin M. Young
Kevin M. Young is a writer, pastor, weightlifter and public theologian. I first ran across Kevin on Twitter, where he regularly comments and laments within a social media environment dominated by conservative Theo-Bros who exult in cruelty and call it…
Orwellian ‘newspeak’ and political censorship on social media
Just days after Donald Trump’s inauguration, I wrote an analysis piece examining the rising sentiments of fascism in the U.S. political climate. Social media users felt they were in the musical “Cabaret” — a play that portrays the rise of…
Mike Lee is the velociraptor of Jurassic Park social media
After the murders of Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, posted on his X account: “This is what happens when Marxists don’t get their way,” and “Nightmare on Waltz Street?” How did he…
Streaming Has Killed Attention Spans, Taste and Community: Will Faith Be Next?
Across America, a growing number of people of all ages are communing with the Holy Spirit via their smartphones and laptops. Once the stuff of pews and pulpits, faith now flows through fiber optics. It’s convenient, sure. No parking, no…
High-profile TheoBro confesses to creating fake social media accounts
A prominent figure among Southern Baptist Calvinists has been accused of creating fake social media accounts, email addresses and Substack platforms to attack the very people who he allegedly associated with. On May 12, the conservative ministry G3 released a…
Trump blasts enemies in Easter morning message before hitting golf course
President Donald Trump — hailed by his supporters for “bringing faith back to the White House” — spent Easter Sunday on the golf course and blasting his enemies on social media. “Happy Easter to all, including the Radical Left Lunatics…
How to use social media to join the resistance by God’s people
Each day we are bombarded with multiple news reports of government dismantling, people being abducted by unmarked officers, orders by judges ignored, criminals pardoned, war plans texted on apps, job loss, Social Security at risk, tariff wars starting a Trumpcession,…
Zuckerpunched: Meta silences MAGA resistance
Editor’s note: After this column was written, historian Heather Cox Richardson reported that some of her daily posts on American history and life have mysteriously disappeared from Facebook. About a month ago, Presbyterian Outlook, the magazine of the Presbyterian Church…
The death of truth
Remember way back in 2017, when it felt sort of quaint for Kellyanne Conway, then special adviser to President Donald Trump, to introduce the term “alternative facts” as a euphemism for the lying that characterized Trump and those around him?…
Your Likes Are But Dust
This New Year, the algorithms promise a new you. New diets, new fitness routines, new products. What better time to get on top of self-care?
A tale of two Trump supporters
Less than an hour after Donald Trump was shot, one of my most liberal friends posted a meme making light of the situation. I phoned to confront the callousness. Things got heated. When I blurted, “Stop acting like a 2-year-old,”…