Escaping the echo chamber of social media

Recently a friend from church sent me a disgusting message via Facebook Messenger. It was a vulgar image depicting what our governor was saying.

To say the least, I was saddened by what was shared. It was not Christ-like. The message did not uplift anyone. And it definitely was not funny.

Yet he thought it was hilarious. When confronted over the image, he mentioned how things have been so serious and down lately that people needed a laugh. This image of a pig’s rear end was just the laugh people needed.

Uhhhhh…. Nope.

I believe my friend was caught in the echo chamber of social media.

The echo chamber resounds when we begin to surround ourselves with like-minded people who share similar views with us.

The views could be:

• I am conservative/liberal in my politics
• I am a believer in Jesus
• I have a white-collar job
• I believe the COVID-19 pandemic has been overblown
• I have a child in the same youth group

Each of these brings us closer together. They make us believe that we think the same way about situations. It also makes us comfortable enough to share disturbing views that may not be shared by outsiders.

Facebook and other social media sites thrive on the similarities we have with one another. They will begin showing you people who are similar enough that you would connect well with them. This could be through your political views or through your children.

We can soon believe we all think alike.

I’m of the opinion we have to break free of this echo chamber. One reason is we can’t witness effectively when we believe they are the enemy, they have no morals, they are scum.

We have a choice, especially in the politically charged season we’re in, to break free of the echo chamber we’ve fallen into, and branch out and connect with people who are not like us.

It’s not easy. It’s not pretty. But it’s what Jesus would do.

We need to learn to step across the divides social media has inserted into our lives. We can’t believe everyone believes the same way we do. We can’t believe that people who believe differently than us have no hope of being saved.

They are more like us than we think. There is a hope they can be saved.

What won’t save them is charged political rhetoric or words and images that make fun of what they believe. This won’t cancel out the echo chamber.

Can I challenge you today? Step outside your normal group of social media friends. Look for someone with a differing viewpoint. Find ways you are alike. Build a relationship from this starting point and then you can begin to build toward an effective outreach to them.

I promise you this can change your life.

More importantly, this can change the eternal lives of those you interact with.