Social Media (stolen article that is brilliantly interesting!)

I found this on the Collide Website - its by some guy called Ben Simpson but raises some interesting questions about Social Media... I found it here...

During the summers, my local church partners with a congregation in the inner city, sponsoring a Vacation Bible School and helping maintain the building. Among the tasks they were asked to complete this year was window washing. In some instances, the windows became clear after a little work. Others, however, remained dingy and fogged. No amount of cleaner would restore the panes to their former state. The condition of the window was fixed.

In both the real and the virtual worlds, there is a desire that the people we meet would be both transparent and authentic. We’d rather see people clearly than feel as though we were peering through a cloudy window pane. While undoubtedly in this age we see though a glass darkly, we hope that our perception of people would match up with reality. We hope for the best, but often it is difficult to discern truth from falsity, integrity from unscrupulousness.

Online, this is a challenge. Social media oftentimes is more of a foggy piece of glass, rather than a clear window pane. There is always the question as to whether an individual’s digital persona has a truthful correspondence to the actuality of their character. Being both transparent and authentic online is a challenge.

The Problem of Perception
The first challenge to being transparent through social media is the problem of perception. When your life is shared through Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, or a blog, a certain image begins to form in the mind of the viewer concerning your personality, your likes and dislikes, your passions, and your hopes. This perception is formed apart from an experience of your presence, including your mannerisms, social habits, voice inflection, and more. By nature, the initial image is limited by the medium.

Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, I’ve managed to gain an impression of a broad array of Christian leaders. There are those who come off cranky, kind, angry, passionate, inarticulate, gentle, persuasive, charismatic, forceful, hopeful, or pessimistic -- an immense range. Through podcasts, pictures, and blog posts, I’m given the opportunity to encounter a host of people without the constraints of time and space. The world, in effect, shrinks. But perceptions don’t always meet up with reality, and it is difficult to fill in the gaps without sharing proximity, community, a common discourse, and a common life. Social media only allows us to see so much.

The Myth of Transparency
In addition to the problem of perception, there is the myth of transparency. People seem to believe that social media can allow us to be transparent, or clear, in how we present ourselves to the world. However, little attention is given to just how clear the window of social media truly is. Online, are we peering through a clear or foggy pane?

Social media enables us to project an image to the world through short bursts. If you were to examine my media usage, you might conclude that I am a coffee shop hipster who likes to read and take my kid to the pool. If you met me in person, you might find me an abrasive Texan who is highly opinionated on matters of theology and church practice, who is occasionally obtuse, who has a “lover’s quarrel” with the church of which he is part, and who likes to talk Royals’ and Rangers’ baseball.

Though some will argue otherwise, I believe online transparency is a myth. We only see that which is revealed through pixels. That picture may be beautiful; it may be repulsive. Social media, like so much of modern public discourse, is a function of image management. You portray what you wish to portray. You choose your soundbites carefully. You present yourself in a light that reveals that which you wish to be seen, and you conceal those elements you desire to remain hidden. And I am not immune from this judgment.

Concerning social media usage and church ministry, this truth points us in a direction that influences our thinking about numerous initiatives and strategies currently being pursued and developed in the Christian world. The obvious applications concern Twitter, blogging, and other similar platforms. But projects like Internet campuses and other church ministries also fall under scrutiny, for to what degree can we truly be “real” with those who are separated from us by the buffer of technology, and how “real” can we be concerning ourselves? Might it be the case that we develop technological personas that deviate from our standard way of being?

The Challenge of and Aid to Authenticity
While total transparency may be a myth, it is possible to have an authentic online presence. But such a presence cannot be developed outside the bounds of a physical community. Being authentically human, in the Christian tradition, is to be formed and remade into the image of Christ. In order to for this type of transformation to take place, we rely both on the grace of God and the common life of the church. It is the church that presents us with the challenge of authenticity, while also exhorting us to be made new by God as authentic human beings.

At the Echo Conference, Charles Lee observed that a physical community was critical for the development of our character. And as more and more Christians engage in the digital world, it will be important for our presence there to be a reflection of the One we claim as Lord. To the degree that others see us through the window of social media, it should be our hope that our lives likewise serve as a window through which others can see the risen Christ.
Through the Looking Glass
If you recall the students mentioned above, they invested their energy washing windows that would never be restored to perfect clarity. Yet despite the fact that these windows remained foggy, perception was still possible. An impression of the person remained, even if a detail here and there became distorted or elusive.

In the same way, social media is the equivalent of an opaque piece of glass. It is a tool that buffers us from the outside world, while also allowing for a perception to be presented to others who look upon us through it. If one is to be authentic online, one must be involved in a physical community that helps to craft one’s character, so that in those areas where online transparency shields us from the critiques and accountability of the online community, there are those that can refine us and help us to become more authentic.

Our challenge, therefore, is to ensure that which is seen is in accordance with the image of Christ; we must be remade without spot or blemish (Eph. 5:27). May God give us the grace to be authentic, living lives that are clear windows to the Christ.