The Toxic Hellscape That Is Social Media (2023)

 Media Conspiracy At The Hands Of Justified Anger

People's anger at traditional media is justified. The media outlets in this country have spent decades selling filtered, watered-down news to be consumed as if it was just another piece of candy or beef jerky. The idea of news as a public service has long been abandoned to the idea of it as a "product" that is "sold" rather than reported.

However, when the masses started to abandon traditional media, they went to a source that was far more destructive than anything that they would have ever received from TV. There is no validity of information on social media. The sources on social media are far more biased than anything that was ever on cable TV in the first place. Instead of finding objective sources, the masses within the realm of social media just went to mouthpieces that echoed their preconceived biases.

The fact is that objective sources of information exist. It's called NPR, AP, PolitiFact and Snopes. Yet, when the masses scream wanting objective sources, that is not what they are referencing. What they want are mouthpieces that echo their preconceived biases and prejudices. Oftentimes, those prejudices are reinforced with conspiracy theories as well.

Due to social media (Facebook in particular), many have become so desensitized to outlandish click-bait that when a traditional source doesn't report on the latest, half-baked sensationalist claims from the likes of Breitbart, WND, or Newsmax; then all of a sudden, "those "Media Elites'', "Globalist", and "Evil Liberals" are hiding the sacred truth again and keep people blind!". When this happens, we lose to ignorance. People will only gravitate to sources that are mouthpieces for what they believe. As such, we remain blind to the events that transpire around us.

Something doesn't just automatically become misinformation or propaganda just because it clashes with your worldview. When one starts to plant seeds of a media conspiracy, then distrust is sowed. Vital information will fail to get out because people will think it's just more propaganda. Facts are always washed by sensationalist claims.

"This Wasn't Reported!" - The Examination of the Conspiracy Theory Regarding the Reporting of The News (Part 1)

https://kixpigeon.blogspot.com/2021/05/this-wasnt-reported-examination-of.html

Fallacies Consume Christianity
Fallacies and vague generalizations based on perceived biases become the order of the day as many who consume social media like a drug reinforce their prejudices with outlandish claims (cognitive bias) as conspiracy theories become the gospel truth. Whenever I hear such sensationalist declarations like "Avoid the mainstream media (another junk term that I will get too as well) because they are constantly saying that Christianity is a bad thing". I read the BBC, AP, and NPR on a regular basis and I never ever heard them declare in any article that Christianity is a bad thing. My mom watches ABC News on a regular basis, and she could tell you that she never ever heard them do news pieces about Christianity being a bad thing. I know people who watch CBS News and they could tell you the same thing. For those making such claims, can you provide evidence and sources to back up such claims where the major news outlets are claiming that Christianity is a bad thing? (Sensationalist click-bait from places like Breitbart, NewsMax, and WND doesn't count as "evidence" either)

Snopes - Does Facebook Prohibit Posting of the Lord’s Prayer? 

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/facebook-lords-prayer/

Snopes - Did Facebook Ban All Christian-Themed Content?  

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/facebook-bans-christian-content/

A couple of years ago, there was this meme that flooded social media. It originated from Brietbart and claimed that 120 Christians were killed in Nigeria over a two week period and the media not reporting it. The meme was intended to promote the false idea of news media hiding Christian suffering. Now, any false claims are going to have grains of truth in them. At face value, the post is true. However, a lot of context is left out. As mentioned earlier, news in this country is a business, and not a public service. As such, (and very unfortunate too) the reason why that was reported is that the American audience doesn't give a crap about what happens in Africa. Not a conspiracy, but simple capitalism 101 in a system that treats news as something that is sold. That is an audience and capitalistic problem though. The news outlets want to maximize profits, and thus reject the stories that their own audience won’t find interesting. Unfortunately for Africa, that means that headlines that originate there are going to be placed on the backburner. (I have the thought in the back of my mind that this might be racially driven as well). But that's not all either. The conflict in Nigeria is a result of a land/property war with religion simply being used as a pretext to justify violence. The conflict isn't one-sided. About the same number of Muslims have been killed over the same amount of time as well. The meme leaves out that information to paint a one-sided picture that the conflict is an act of religious persecution while promoting the false idea of a media conspiracy.

Did ‘Muslim Militants’ Kill 120 Christians in Nigeria in February/March 2019? (Snopes)

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/nigeria-christians-muslims/

The fact is that the traditional news sources have reported acts of violence that were directed against Christians, as they have reported acts of violence reported against Buddhist and Muslims as well. You can't put this past FB either. The platform has been used to facilitate a genocide in Myanmar. Should we really expect better from it, or those who use it as a valid source of information.

Christian persecution 'at near genocide levels' (BBC)

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-48146305

Growing religious persecution 'a threat to everyone' (BBC)

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-30001063

2017 Rohingya persecution in Myanmar (Wikipedia)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohingya_genocide

Christian Persecution – Fact or Fiction (Patheos)

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/blackwhiteandgray/2013/06/christian-persecution-fact-or-fiction/

Growing Religious Persecution In China A Symptom Of Xi's Consolidation Of Power (Forbes)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/oliviaenos/2018/03/28/growing-religious-persecution-in-china-a-symptom-of-xis-consolidation-of-power/?sh=74f76b673b8c

Lazy Ministry

The social media distraction doesn’t end there. Social media has also led to what many would consider a lazy ministry. One that is not defined by outreach, but whether one meets their religious meme quota online. These are the posts that have phrases like “Please type “Amen” in the comments”. These often contain images of Jesus and the Devil battling each other out with the phrases such as “If you love Jesus, press “Like”, otherwise, you’re helping the Devil”. These are the posts that give Christianity a bad name while enabling those who share them pass off this recreational time killing as quote “spiritual outreach”. 

Jesus never had to resort to guilt to get a response. These are the posts shared by the self-righteous. What makes these posts insulting is that I, or anyone for that matter, don’t have to prove our spirituality to anyone, especially to those on social media. Christianity becomes a gimmick when such tripe is posted. Spirituality becomes a joke when one feels that typing “Amen” in the comments helps people. Typing “Amen” in the comments doesn’t enhance your Christian walk either. Whatever religious post you respond or not respond to isn’t going to determine your spirituality because Christianity is not defined by artificial metrics such as posting random religious memes with the phrase “Please Type Amen In The Comments”.

Four Reasons Why You Should Never Share That Post That Says "Share This If You Love Jesus"

https://journeymadison.com/four-reasons-why-you-should-never-share-that-post-that-says-share-this-if-you-love-jesus/?fbclid=IwAR0pMoGwn0DtfIl19xReWsLvzz5s1k7rU48F81aHJSXGPmZwFjq0cQK6c7Q

5 Reasons “Share If You Agree” Posts Drive Me Crazy

https://heatherannemaclean.wordpress.com/2013/10/16/228/?fbclid=IwAR0Th2l1fiieO7k2TBDtuOfGugPaqAQJK10-PnI-mb87j1kbRKaiX1xMf3M

Snopes : Did Angels Prevent a Rape? 

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/alley-oops/ 

Social Media Be Damned
I just like that subtitle’s name so much! When I released an article called "Facebook: The Worst Thing To Ever Happen To Christianity"; that should be a very easy way to gauge how I feel about that platform, and social media in general. It's a realm where our imagery demons and cartoon villains become real and our paranoia reigns supreme. It's a toxic hellscape where the gullible and naïve use it as an echo chamber to reinforce their prejudices and biases while passing off fallacies as the gospel truth. It enabled many to grab the first piece of click-bait encountered and pass it off as "evidence" or "research". I haven't even covered Elon Musk either!

Editorial: Facebook Is The Worst Thing To Ever Happen To Christianity

https://kixpigeon.blogspot.com/2021/06/editorial-facebook-is-worst-thing-to.html


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