Last year I reviewed a book by Chris Martin – Terms of Service: The Real Cost of Social Media – about how social media affects us and how we can avoid its pitfalls. Since I finished that book, I’ve been recommending it to others (read my review here). So when I heard that he had a new book coming out, I was sure to pre-order a copy of it.
[Full disclosure: I was able to get a free copy of the ebook before the release, hence the reason why this review is being posted before the official release date. But this was after I pre-ordered a printed copy of it.]
The new book – The Wolf in Their Pockets: 13 Ways the Social Internet Threatens the People You Lead – deals with the same theme as Terms of Service but is directed at church leaders and the challenges they face as the members of their churches are under the influence of social media.
From the book’s description:
The world has changed. And we feel it in our homes, schools, and congregations.
We can hardly remember a time when we didn’t feel the influence of that back pocket device. The average social media user spends about two-and-a-half hours a day using social media. That’s more than enough time to shape our values and desires. Pastors, teachers, and parents feel their influence slipping away. We’re seeing increased loneliness, disunity, and self-absorption. But where do we go from here?
In The Wolf in Their Pockets, Internet expert Chris Martin examines the many ways we are being changed by social media. With a biblically informed voice, Martin both exposes the ways the Internet is distorting our life in Christ and shows us how to faithfully respond. Martin teaches us how to care for people who are obsessed with followers, views, and likes—and how to love those whose online influences have filled them with cynicism and contempt. Martin looks at how the social Internet is changing how we understand sex and beauty—what to do about the epidemic levels of anxiety—and how to redirect our hearts to worship Jesus Christ.
One of the dangers pointed out in the book is that the social internet deceives us into thinking that we do not need real in-person relationships. As the author pointed out, “Embodied relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ are more valuable than ethereal relationships with strangers, but unfortunately, more and more people don’t see it that way.” As Christians become more invested in their online connections – even if they are with real people – it becomes easier to become disengaged with their local churches and, eventually, even drift away from them.
While good content and helpful material are available online, the author points out in the book that false information and polarizing content that creates conflict spread much faster online. This is because social media algorithms favor “engaging” content that keeps users on the platforms. Over time, this has a negative impact on users, such that they are more likely to believe things that are false or have their hearts corrupted by the bitter and heated debates that are so common online.
It is tempting to ignore all of this and pretend that the people in our congregations are not affected by this or that it will eventually fade away somehow. But the author argues that we cannot do this. He says, “We are wrong to passively ignore social media and the internet, especially if we are in ministry leadership. If we write off social media as a fad or as some lighthearted icon of popular culture that teens are addicted to, we will grossly underestimate the effect of social media in the lives of the people we love.”
Anyone who is a preacher, elder, Bible class teacher, parent, or in some other position in which they can influence others will benefit from this book. Whether we like it or not, social media has a huge influence on the people around us – much of it is negative. If you want to work to overcome this and help steer others in the right direction, the material in this book will help you know how to do that.
This book is available on Amazon – The Wolf in Their Pockets: 13 Ways the Social Internet Threatens the People You Lead (affiliate link)
