In Elizabeth Drescher’s article, “Five Social Media Trends that are Reshaping Religion,” it came as no surprise that social media has slowly but surely trickled its way down to affecting religion. Though some may view social media integration in religion to perhaps be a “sin,” (according to Drescher’s article, a Google search for “social media guidelines for churches” yields more than twenty-seven million results,) Drescher shares in her articles some of the benefits of social media’s presence in religion.
The two most intriguing trends of social media that I personally thought was quite interesting in Drescher’s article is the presence of religious apps now available to those with Adroids, iPhones, and other smart phones. As a Christian, I currently have a “Bible app” on my phone that offers me access to an online version of the Bible. When I need to look up a verse, it is so convenient to use the app. All I have to do is open the app, type in the Bible verse, and voila, in less than ten seconds, I have the full Bible verse on my phone screen.
As I was interested in exploring what other apps are related to religion, I took it upon myself to do some research at the App Store. I typed in “religion,” and got a few interesting hits. Some included an app for religion books, Bible promises, iRosary, encyclopedia of religion, children’s Bible, Bibles in different languages, hymns, Bible trivia, Muslim Pro, etc. I had never seen so many apps for religion! It truly astounded me to see how much technology has integrated religion to allow smartphone users to have access to such apps. As each app had approximately one hundred to two hundred ratings, I was shocked to see how many individuals had actually downloaded, used, and rated these apps. Moreover, what was interesting was that many of these apps are free. This observation showed me that the accessibility of these apps are definitely making it easier for this social media trend to spread.
Another interesting trend that Drescher talked about was “ministers-on-the-go.” In the article, Drescher talks about how some ministers will “check-in” to places that they go to (through Foursquare) so that the individuals who see that the minister is around their area, will have access to him and his ministry. I thought that this was such a creative idea as I never really saw the point in checking-in somewhere. Even on Facebook, which recently included the option to check-in to places, I personally thought was pointless. I thought, “Who cares if you’re at KFC? Or who cares if you went to Starbucks?” For some reasons I could understand, if one was at the mall by chance and wanted to see if anyone else wanted to hang out, or to show off that one was at a fancy restaurant with their friends. But other than reasons such as those, I thought it was absolutely pointless to check-in anywhere (especially since it’s a bit creepy because people could be stalking you).
But after reading Drescher’s article, and reading the point of the minister and his reasons for checking-in, I have to admit that that is one of the best reasons that I think one should check in, and actually tried thinking of other justifications to check-in somewhere. Moreover, this minister reminded me of my own pastor at my church who also utilizes Facebook and other social media sites in order to stay on track with those who attend his church. Creating a Facebook page for his Bible study group is one way my pastor utilizes social media in order to further his ministry among those at his church. In this way, I saw a real life example of Drescher’s article applied in my life!
Overall, I think that Drescher makes an excellent point about social media and its effects on religion. After reading her article, I pondered what other trends I could add to her list, and more so thought of what the next social media tool will affect religion.