You may not have done something as terrible as tell some unsuspecting kid in an embarrassing video to kill himself, but you’ve responded to something similar in a mocking or derisive way.
The irony, though, is that those who benefit the least from these services are those who make the services’ existence, popularity, and even necessity possible.
Any form of immortality which cannot account for the totality of existence, and which can’t transcend our limitations and blind spots, is no immortality at all.
A study like this should raise questions about effective time stewardship, i.e., how we can best use the time that has been allotted to us for God’s glory and our good.
Let’s not fall into the trap of believing that the moment technology is involved, we become inherently anti-social, or that “instantaneous mediated nostalgia” and “real-life human connection” are mutually exclusive.
The Eich controversy is a firm reminder of the necessity for tough, expensive grace in our lives, relationships, and conversations, especially when it comes to such heated issues as gay marriage and LGBT rights.
Are we using the powerful, disruptive technology at our own fingertips to encourage, to think critically and compassionately, to spread shalom and create a “meaningful society”?