Page 23 - MyFaith Mag February 2017 PRINT

change revolution

THE NEED TO PERFORM WELL ON
SOCIAL MEDIA

PHIL COOKE

I’m not sure we’re fully comprehending the need some One interesting note we’ve discovered is that the pressure
people feel to perform well on social media. I was upgrad- to attract “likes” on Instagram is so great that teens often
ed on a flight from Dallas to Los Angeles the other day and delete photos that don’t do well. One survey showed some
sat next to a twenty-something woman who literally spent teens delete about half the photos already posted in their
the entire flight taking selfies. She must have snapped off Instagram feeds.
150 or more shots of herself. She was next to the window, so
she experimented with the shade for lighting, fussed with Everyone needs to be appreciated and supported. But
her hair, checked different heights for when that support comes primarily from “likes” on social
media, where is the actual physical connection, the rela-
the camera. Three and half hours of this. For many people tionship, or the real-life community? I love social media, and
of all ages, social media pressure is increasing. I have to admit to occasionally feeling frustrated when a
post doesn’t perform well. But as we survey social media at
I would love to see pastors and Christian leaders address Cooke Pictures, we’re becoming more and more distressed
this at the church level. Where do we find our identity? Who at just how much some people look there as their number
are we trying to please? one source of accomplishment.

Right now, Snapchat appears to be gaining traction, espe-
cially among teens. Snapchat passed Instagram in an April
Piper Jaffray survey of American teens. According to the
semiannual survey, 28% of more than 6,530 teens polled
said the disappearing photo app was their top social net-
work, edging out Instagram with 27%. Just six months ear-
lier, 33% of teens ranked Instagram first and 19% favored
Snapchat.