Why do Christians keep doomscrolling?

I like the internet. I was a very early user and encouraged others to go online.

It is good to have information available, and commentary and opinion about that information. That’s what libraries do, and a huge, free, easily accessible library is a good thing to have. The problems of quality control mean we need to be discerning about said information; but that’s the case in any library.

What I don’t like is the short-form social media that encourages exchange of views without debate, without argument. I don’t like the comment availability at the end of an item that suggest that anyone’s reaction is as good as anyone else’s, and deserves to be aired. It seems to me to encourage the worst in people; judgmentalism, pride, malice, and lack of charity.

And it seems I have a point. The algorithms that drive social media are specifically designed to make us angry. ‘Doomscrolling’ creates anxiety and pessimism. There are associations between screen time and ‘behavioural problems, anxiety, hyperactivity, attention, self-esteem and psychosocial health’. The studies keep multiplying.

We are all aware of the documented negative effects of social comparison, especially among the young. It has a cumulative negative affect on self-esteem, mood and life satisfaction. ‘Likes’ drive dopamine hits, and so become addictive, and so the result is to spend increased amounts of time viewing and posting increasingly eye-catching content. The more recent problems of blackmail and even suicides when young people are encouraged to share provocative pictures is tragic. Not to mention the more than 300 million child victims of online sexual abuse every year. It’s the sort of thing that has led the Australian government to ban social media for under-16s. Online life, especially via smartphones, is bad for children and pretty bad for adults. It’s not a secret.

So why do Christians do it?

Apart from just keeping in contact with family and friends, often the answer is: ‘Because it’s a ministry opportunity’. That can be true. There is so much disinformation. Our attackers are using social media to promulgate their wrong views. Good information can counter that.

The problem is when we are sucked into the same temptations of pride, competitiveness, exhibitionism and anger that drive so many of the exchanges. Not to mention the temptations to selfish ambition, envy, dissension and bitterness: the internal sins that can come just from reading the comments even if we have the strength not to reply.

Is it possible to broadcast edited, well-formed content, to communicate with friends, even to preach, but without taking on inflammatory dialogue? I realise that I may not be the best person to work out how to do it; I’m not really drawn to these platforms at all. I like absorbing information, not broadcasting it. But we must start developing better Christian strategies for its use, have Christian research on its effects, start teaching from Sunday School onwards how to have a Christian attitude towards the temptations it poses.