Social Media: The Theater of Our Lives?

By Elizabeth Prata

SYNOPSIS

I discuss the concept of social media as a form of theater, highlighting how users often present curated versions of themselves to avoid exposing their own sin and to manage perceptions. While recognizing the dangers of social media, I mention its potential for positive engagement, especially in sharing the Gospel and promoting truth, urging wise and intentional use.

With the exposing of Patriarchy Hannah to have been a total fabrication, and with the exposing of G3 Ministry President Josh Buice’s use of anonymous accounts to slander his fellow elders, friends, and other Christians, we come now to a comment from someone on Twitter called Pettifogging Pharisee. Pettifogging is a small, anonymous account I know nothing about except for his comment, which is an excerpt,

“All social media is theater.”

It is an interesting point. I thought about that for a few days. Social media IS theater. Whether you agree or disagree that “all” of it is theater, or just “some” of it is theater, is up to your own interpretation. But the statement that social media is theater means to me that some (or all) aspects of the various platforms are a façade. Acting.

Part of that is by default. We cannot live an authentic life in front of all the people who might be reading/watching our platforms. We must pick and choose what we present. Another of the reasons social media is theater is safety. In these days, especially for women, we don’t lay open all our parts of our lives to the general viewing public. We make wise decisions about how much to share.

But another reason social media is theater is that we are sinners. When we pick and choose what to display online, it’s usually the best of us, right?

It’s admittedly easier to hide our flaws on social media, whether we post anonymously or as our named self. However, there’s something I learned when I was a newspaper journalist. Blogs were coming out then and the internet had recently been firmly established. But print newspapers were still thriving. What I saw was that people are smart. Very smart. If you send a letter to the editor for the print version, or make an anonymous comment in the blog section, many people can pick up on who you are. It truly is hard to hide. Additionally, they can see flaws and sins we think we are hiding so well.

But if social media is theater, so life is theater as well. Social media is not the enemy. Sin is the enemy. We like to blame social media for being fake, for being a platform of division, for being negative, addicting, and sometimes evil. But it is only a reflection of…US. Humans run social media and humans are sinful. People deceive in real life, steal, have lustful thoughts, watch porn, etc. Not only on social media but in real life we present the best of us and hide the sins we want to hide.

HOW we use social media is the key:

—Remember our goals with it. Why am I establishing a social media presence in the first place? What is my ultimate aim?

(My own goal has always been to share the Gospel, to promote doctrinal truth, and to point women to credible, solid resources for further study).

–Recognizing its dangers as a tempter is crucial. Social media can be a tempter to pride, arrogance, hypocrisy and more.

(My own decision was not to go on any speaker circuit and to be satisfied with a smaller rather than larger platform. I take John MacArthur’s approach seriously- do what I do with care and depth, and let the Holy spirit take care of the breadth. I’m too tempted by fame’s false glory to do otherwise).

–Have we set limits for ourselves, using it wisely? Are you on so much other things get neglected? As for attitude, we can unwittingly pick up in our attitude the ongoing atmosphere on our preferred social media, whatever it may be, such as bullying, muckraking, haughtiness, snark, skepticism, etc.

(To prevent this, I engage in prayer, but also deliberately widen my focus of study for essays I publish. I post encouragement essays, natural history, science, etc if I think I need to crowbar those myopic discernment walls that may be closing in. There was one well known lady I stopped following because I was starting to pick up her habit of snark).

I like social media. I like the technology than can send Gospel seeds far, encourage from afar, unite me to people, pastors, ministries I’d never would have learned of any other way. I rejoice when I receive mission reports from far flung countries. When I hear of a conversion testimony from someone living outside my real life circle.

I know social media comes with danger. Any new technology does. Technology itself is neutral. It’s how we use it that makes it a blessing or a curse. Anything we use, engage with, become attached to can become an idol, such as marriage, child rearing, lifestyles, even preaching can be an idol. So we take the Bible’s admonitions seriously to guard our hearts, put on our armor, and all the other warnings that remind us we are sheep among wolves.