How Social Media can promote Catholic evangelization Digital media and technology are quickly becoming a prominent aspect of many households across the world. Children as young as seven are being introduced to the vast world of social media and are having different forms of media incorporated in their everyday lives. One aspect of our lives on which social and digital media can have a tremendous effect is our religious life. Whether at a church service, scrolling through our Twitter or Facebook feed, or looking at the latest post on our favorite Catholic blog, the media has an influential power over how the Catholic faith evangelizes outsiders and portrays positivity to those who follow it. Despite a few negative side effects that the
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The use of social media has been described as being an “essential component of the faith lives of practicing Catholics” (Salonen 28). Not only are the parents of young children introducing the responsible use of technology to promote faith, but the “pope has been a strong proponent of encouraging the faithful to embrace the Digital Age” (Salonen 29). One example of a Catholic blog that was created by a mother of young children, CatholicMom.com is an outlet for this woman of faith to not only “report the news, but invite others to be a part of the conversation” (Salonen 30). This form of evangelization in a blog, specifically for mothers in the Catholic religion, helps to unite this group of women through similar aspects of their lives, focusing on their common religion. Another blog, goodnessreigns.com, written by a young woman, was formed for the purpose to not only grow in her faith, but to help facilitate the growth of faith in the coming generations. She sees this outlet as a “form of spiritual encouragement” and to share experiences of her own faith tradition with strangers hoping to gain a new …show more content…
In his article titled “Digital Growth,” Christopher Coyne, engages the reader with not only ways that digital media can promote spiritual growth in an individual, but how there are risks and downfalls with the use of digital media. He describes some of the risks as, “isolation, a loss of real embodied community, a preference for virtual over reality, and the development of subcultures of anger, hatred, gossip, detraction, bullying, and violence” (Coyne 20); the most prominent being that of isolation— or detaching oneself from the community by becoming fully committed to his or her virtual reality. One of the major challenges that comes along with the immense use of digital media in the lives of nearly everyone is the need to call people out of that isolation and to utilize social media as a way to cultivate growth within a faith community. In order to continue to grow in our faith lives and spirituality, there needs to be an importance placed on the aspect of coming together as part of a community in a physical place; not in front of a TV monitor or phone
The use of social media has been described as being an “essential component of the faith lives of practicing Catholics” (Salonen 28). Not only are the parents of young children introducing the responsible use of technology to promote faith, but the “pope has been a strong proponent of encouraging the faithful to embrace the Digital Age” (Salonen 29). One example of a Catholic blog that was created by a mother of young children, CatholicMom.com is an outlet for this woman of faith to not only “report the news, but invite others to be a part of the conversation” (Salonen 30). This form of evangelization in a blog, specifically for mothers in the Catholic religion, helps to unite this group of women through similar aspects of their lives, focusing on their common religion. Another blog, goodnessreigns.com, written by a young woman, was formed for the purpose to not only grow in her faith, but to help facilitate the growth of faith in the coming generations. She sees this outlet as a “form of spiritual encouragement” and to share experiences of her own faith tradition with strangers hoping to gain a new …show more content…
In his article titled “Digital Growth,” Christopher Coyne, engages the reader with not only ways that digital media can promote spiritual growth in an individual, but how there are risks and downfalls with the use of digital media. He describes some of the risks as, “isolation, a loss of real embodied community, a preference for virtual over reality, and the development of subcultures of anger, hatred, gossip, detraction, bullying, and violence” (Coyne 20); the most prominent being that of isolation— or detaching oneself from the community by becoming fully committed to his or her virtual reality. One of the major challenges that comes along with the immense use of digital media in the lives of nearly everyone is the need to call people out of that isolation and to utilize social media as a way to cultivate growth within a faith community. In order to continue to grow in our faith lives and spirituality, there needs to be an importance placed on the aspect of coming together as part of a community in a physical place; not in front of a TV monitor or phone