A couple of things in the area of technology and some of the social media tools we use–caught my eye this week. And I wanted to share them with you because I think they are of great importance for us as we think through and wrestle with the implications of our technology and our theology.
First, as I have mentioned before, one of my favorite blogs is John Dyer’s, Don’t Eat The Fruit. I love his tagline, “technology is fast, but redemption is slow.”
Well, John in his free time decided to create a Twitter application for fun, but that also reflected in his creation what words could not. And his design has a very insightful theological approach. In the post TwitterVoice3D: Creativity, Chaos, and Order in the Online World, John says this:
Twitter is an amazing showcase of human creativity. Yet, as with all human creations, it needs to be ordered. If one were to fully join the conversation of Twitter, one would have to be on it all day, all the time, every minute. But to be creative as God intended us, we must order it, rather than let it order us. In a sense, we have to go against it’s nature as chaotic and discarnate and choose to make it orderly and use it for incarnate ends.
Check out his post and download the application which is both fun and eerie.
Second, another favorite blogger, and good friend of mine is Wess Daniels. Like John’s blog, I think Wess’ blog is a must read also. In my opinion I think Wess is one of the best, and most insightful thinkers on the issues of Church, culture and technology. He blogs about many other things, but these interests have really caught my attention. His post, Fan Culture and “Virtual” Communities is a must read. Wess says:
In his class on this subject Ryan Bolger argues that this is how we should evaluate communities, not just fan communities, but communities in general. That is to say that community within convergence culture is no longer relegated to dinner tables, not that it shouldn’t happen there as well, but that “community” is now extended in both space and time through the global flows of mobile technology. To reduce community down to a physical interaction betrays what we know of how people actually interact in our world today. We all have those things we get really excited about and build communities around, whether they are religious interests and concerns, academic interests, pop cultural texts, or a consumer product, our communities are now being shaped, reshaped and constructed in very different ways.
Third, Mark Brown asks the questions, Is Online Community Real Community? and does a great job over at Brownblog of rounding up some of the thoughts, comments, controversy and critiques surrounding Shane Hipps’ interview at the National Pastor’s Convention last month.
Mark has a lot of great and insightful things to say on his blog and so I have enjoyed getting the opportunity to learn from him online.
