{"id":1864,"date":"2010-11-15T16:19:45","date_gmt":"2010-11-15T16:19:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sharefaithblog.wpengine.com\/?p=1864"},"modified":"2011-03-25T20:15:28","modified_gmt":"2011-03-25T20:15:28","slug":"social-media-christian-guru-luddite-guest-post-owen-strachan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sharefaith.com\/blog\/2010\/11\/social-media-christian-guru-luddite-guest-post-owen-strachan\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Media and the Christian:  Guru or Luddite? Guest Post by Owen Strachan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1865\" title=\"socialmediachristian1\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sharefaith.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/socialmediachristian1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"204\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogrouting.sharefaith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/socialmediachristian1.jpg 480w, https:\/\/blogrouting.sharefaith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/socialmediachristian1-300x128.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The social media phenomenon has been around for quite a while now, and it continues to divide people up into at least two categories: fans and detractors. Whether we acknowledge it or not, social media has affected all of us, and we are all subject to it to some extent. Gospel Coalition members Collin Hansen, Justin Taylor, and I talked about some aspects of social media in this video.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oQpZjgiWDOk?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>But this does not settle the deeper personal question: \u00a0Are we good at using social media? Or are we distrustful of it? In short, are we a guru or a Luddite? Because I\u2019m sure many folks are confused\u2014and distressed about this confusion\u2014it might help to work carefully through a quiz about social media to help you determine your stance. This is in the light and airy tradition of New Yorker quizzes and others, and, hey, it\u2019s all in good fun.<\/p>\n<p>So here goes. Self-discovery, thy name is quiz.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Section One: <\/strong><br \/>\nYes\/No (1 point for yes; -1 for no)<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Do you have a Facebook profile?<\/li>\n<li>Do you have a Twitter profile?<\/li>\n<li>Do you have a personal blog?<\/li>\n<li>Have you ever notified your social network about a meal you ate?<\/li>\n<li>Do you want to notify your social network about a meal you ate? (Answer why in the essay portion below.)<\/li>\n<li>Have you recently set up a meeting\/lunch on someone\u2019s public Facebook \u201cwall\u201d instead of sending a \u201cmessage\u201d (or, perish the thought, an \u201cemail\u201d)?<\/li>\n<li>Do you talk bad about blogs and bloggers\u2014and then skim several blogs to see what\u2019s happening online? (if yes, -5)<\/li>\n<li>Do you regularly shun person-to-person contact to update your profile photo and interests?<\/li>\n<li>Do you think that \u201cvirtual\u201d contact is the same thing as in-person contact?<\/li>\n<li>Have you declaimed about how social media distracts you\u2014and then turned on either a football game, political talk show, or \u201creality TV\u201d show? (if yes, -5)<\/li>\n<li>Have you ever heard of EyestoSeeHim on Twitter?<\/li>\n<li>Do you doubt whether EyestoSeeHim is helpful merely because it is a social media platform? (if no, -5)<\/li>\n<li>Can you read professor\/pastor Mark Coppenger\u2019s Twitter feed and not laugh? (if no, -10)<\/li>\n<li>How many times have you referenced your own writing\/speaking on your social media platforms? (-5 if you have never done so; for every 10,000x you have done so, add 1 point)<\/li>\n<li>Do you spend more time strategizing for growth on FarmVille than you do in everyday life?<\/li>\n<li>Have you expressed excitement over the fact that \u201cit\u2019s Friday\u201d?<\/li>\n<li>Have you flirted publicly with your spouse or significant other through social media? (If yes, answer why in the essay section below.)<\/li>\n<li>Is it a regular habit of yours to leave long and exclamation-point-filled messages on the social media platforms of \u201cChristian celebrities\u201d?<\/li>\n<li>Do you stalk Christian \u201ccelebrities\u201d online? If so, how many? (Add +10 for every 50.)<\/li>\n<li>Do you neglect your studies and work, only to spend hours crafting intricate \u201ccomments\u201d on blogs? (Add +40 for every comment written in the last year totaling 200 words or more.)<\/li>\n<li>Do you decry social media, only to hope against hope that its proponents will pick up your works?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>Section Two: Short Essay<br \/>\n<\/strong><br \/>\nIn a thoughtful essay, assess the strengths and weaknesses of social media as a mode of 1) gospel advancement, 2) self-promotion, 3) community, and 4) fun.<br \/>\nAs if in a courtroom, present evidence to back up your position on the following statement: \u201cSocial media presents strengths\/challenges to deep thinking on big things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Section Three: Bonus  Points<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Leave a comment on this blog.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cRecommend\u201d this item on Facebook.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cTweet\u201d about this item.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cTalk\u201d in-person to someone about this piece (Note: this refers to face-to-face conversation, known in previous centuries as \u201ctalking.\u201d).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Section Four: Assessment<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1 to 10:  Guru-in-Training<\/li>\n<li>10 to 50: Guru<\/li>\n<li>50+: You have serious PR \u201ckung fu.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>-1 to -10: Luddite-in-Training<\/li>\n<li>-10 to -50: Luddite<\/li>\n<li>-50+: Do you have electricity?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sharefaith.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/owenstrachan1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1870\" title=\"owenstrachan\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sharefaith.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/owenstrachan1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"188\" height=\"220\" \/><\/a>Owen Strachan teaches theology and church history at Boyce College in Louisville, Kentucky. Strachan writes for the online biblical learning platform, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblemesh.com\/\">Bible Mesh<\/a>. He is also the co-author of the The Essential Edwards Collection. Strachan is an erstwhile <a href=\"http:\/\/owenstrachan.com\/\">blogger<\/a> and a contributor to the <a href=\"http:\/\/thegospelcoalition.org\/blogs\/tgc\/\">Gospel Coalition blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n<table border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"3\" width=\"100%\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.christianbook.com\/Christian\/Books\/product?event=AFF&amp;p=1161950&amp;item_no=424624\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"424624: The Essential Edwards Collection, 5 Volumes\" src=\"http:\/\/ag.christianbook.com\/g\/tiny\/4\/424624.gif\" border=\"0\" alt=\"424624: The Essential Edwards Collection, 5 Volumes\" width=\"70\" height=\"70\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.christianbook.com\/Christian\/Books\/product?event=AFF&amp;p=1161950&amp;item_no=424624\">The Essential Edwards Collection, 5 Volumes<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/sharefaith.constantcontact.com\/industry\/religious.jsp?pn=sharefaith&amp;cc=blogbottomad1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.faithclipart.com\/images\/img\/3\/blog\/WordpressBlog\/flatCTCTad.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"535\" height=\"191\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The social media phenomenon has been around for quite a while now, and it continues to divide people up into at least two categories: fans and detractors. Whether we acknowledge it or not, social media has affected all of us, and we are all subject to it to some extent. Gospel Coalition members Collin Hansen, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[315],"tags":[651,649,652,448,650],"class_list":{"0":"post-1864","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-church-social-media","7":"tag-christian-social-media","8":"tag-facebook-christian","9":"tag-owen-strachan","10":"tag-social-media","11":"tag-social-media-and-the-church"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v14.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Social Media and the Christian: Guru or Luddite? Guest Post by Owen Strachan - Sharefaith Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sharefaithblog.wpengine.com\/2010\/11\/social-media-christian-guru-luddite-guest-post-owen-strachan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Social Media and the Christian: Guru or Luddite? Guest Post by Owen Strachan - Sharefaith Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The social media phenomenon has been around for quite a while now, and it continues to divide people up into at least two categories: fans and detractors. Whether we acknowledge it or not, social media has affected all of us, and we are all subject to it to some extent. Gospel Coalition members Collin Hansen, [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sharefaithblog.wpengine.com\/2010\/11\/social-media-christian-guru-luddite-guest-post-owen-strachan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sharefaith Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SharefaithPage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-11-15T16:19:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-03-25T20:15:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sharefaithblog.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/socialmediachristian1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sharefaith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@sharefaith\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sharefaith.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sharefaith.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Sharefaith Magazine\",\"description\":\"The Best in Church Leadership, Worship, Tech and Gear!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/www.sharefaith.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sharefaithblog.wpengine.com\/2010\/11\/social-media-christian-guru-luddite-guest-post-owen-strachan\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sharefaith.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/socialmediachristian1.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sharefaithblog.wpengine.com\/2010\/11\/social-media-christian-guru-luddite-guest-post-owen-strachan\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sharefaithblog.wpengine.com\/2010\/11\/social-media-christian-guru-luddite-guest-post-owen-strachan\/\",\"name\":\"Social Media and the Christian: Guru or Luddite? 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With his background and training (M.A., M.Div.), Daniel is passionate about inspiring pastors and volunteers in their service to the King. Daniel is devoted to his family, nerdy about SEO, and drinks coffee with no cream or sugar. 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