THE ALGORITHM IS LEARNING YOU

Social media is learning you. And I don't think most of us understand just how much that should concern us.

You don't have to like a post. You don't have to comment. You don't even have to click on anything. Sometimes all you have to do is pause. You scroll past twenty things without thinking about them, but then something catches your attention. You stop for a second. Maybe you look a little longer. Maybe you read the comments. Maybe you watch the video again. That little pause that meant almost nothing to you became information.

So it gives you another one.

You pause again.

Now it knows a little more.

The longer you use social media, the more information you give it. It learns what makes you laugh. It learns what makes you angry. It learns what makes you curious. It learns what you're afraid of. It learns what you're attracted to. It learns what makes you jealous. It learns what you want to buy. It learns what keeps you looking. Then, little by little, your feed begins changing to reflect what it has learned about you.

IT DOESN'T HAVE TO CREATE THE DESIRE

James 1:14 says, “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.”

That verse is important to this conversation because the algorithm doesn't necessarily have to create a new appetite in you. It only has to discover the appetites that are already there.

If lust gets your attention, eventually it can give you more opportunities to lust. If anger gets your attention, it can keep you angry. If controversy keeps you scrolling, there will always be another controversy. If comparison gets you, there will always be somebody prettier, richer, happier, more successful, more accomplished, or apparently more blessed than you. If pride gets you, there will always be something available to make you feel superior. If fear gets you, there will always be something else to be afraid of.

It learns your habits, and then it makes your habits readily available to you.

That raises a question Christians need to seriously consider: Do you have enough self-control to live with your temptations constantly being placed within reach?

WHEN TEMPTATION STARTS LOOKING FOR YOU

There was a time when pursuing certain temptations required effort. You had to go looking for some things. You had to leave the house. You had to find the wrong people. You had to buy something. You had to go somewhere you knew you shouldn't be.

Now, many of those things come looking for you.

You carry them in your pocket.

That changes the nature of the battle. The distance between appetite and opportunity has become incredibly small. A moment of weakness no longer requires a trip across town. Sometimes it requires nothing more than moving your thumb.

The more you respond to something, the more information you provide. The system gets better at determining what will keep you there. What began as an innocent scroll can become a personalized stream of the very things you have the hardest time resisting.

That ought to concern us.

YOUR FEED MAY BE TELLING YOU SOMETHING

Eventually, your social media feed can become a strange kind of mirror.

Not necessarily a mirror of the person you tell everybody you are, but a mirror of what repeatedly holds your attention.

What makes you stop? What makes you click? What makes you keep watching? What makes you angry enough to read every comment? What makes you go to somebody's profile? What makes you come back for more?

Your feed may begin reflecting what excites your flesh. It may reflect what makes you angry, what you covet, what you fear, what you envy, what you desire, and what you struggle to turn away from.

That doesn't mean everything appearing on your feed is something you secretly want. Algorithms aren't mind readers, and sometimes they get it completely wrong. But when the same kinds of things repeatedly capture our attention, we should at least be willing to ask ourselves why.

The problem is not always what appeared on the screen.

Sometimes the more important question is why I stopped scrolling.

MEN AND WOMEN ARE BOTH BEING STUDIED

Men need to understand this. Women need to understand it too.

The temptation may not always look the same, but the principle does.

For one person it may be sexual temptation. For another it may be comparison. For another it may be anger. For another it may be materialism. Someone else may be consumed with recognition, appearance, relationships, politics, success, fear, gossip, controversy, or the approval of other people.

Whatever gets your attention is valuable information. And once your patterns are recognized, more content capable of producing the same response can be placed in front of you. This is why self-control matters so much in the digital age. It isn't enough to say, “I would never go looking for that.”

The question is: What will you do when it comes looking for you?

THE BATTLE FOR YOUR ATTENTION

There is another part of this that may be even bigger than individual temptations. Your attention itself is valuable.

Social media platforms benefit when you stay. They benefit when you scroll one more time, watch one more video, read one more argument, check one more notification, and come back again ten minutes later.

But Scripture says in Colossians 3:2, “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”

At some point, then, this becomes more than a conversation about screen time. It becomes a conversation about worship.

What gets the first part of my morning? What gets the last part of my night? Where does my mind automatically go when I have thirty seconds with nothing to do? What do I reach for when I'm bored, lonely, uncomfortable, angry, or tired? What has trained me to feel as though every quiet moment needs to be filled? What gets hours from me while I struggle to give God minutes?

Those are uncomfortable questions, but they are necessary ones.

WHEN A TOOL BECOMES AN IDOL

An idol does not have to be made out of wood or stone. Sometimes it fits in your hand.

I am not saying that possessing a smartphone or having a social media account is idolatry. Social media is a tool, and a tool can be used for good. The Gospel can be preached through it. People can be encouraged through it. Families can communicate through it. Churches can reach people through it. There are plenty of good things that can be accomplished with technology.

But a useful tool can still occupy a place in our lives that it was never supposed to have.

When I cannot sit quietly without reaching for it, when I cannot pray without checking it, when I cannot read my Bible for twenty minutes but can scroll for two hours, when my emotions are continually being controlled by what I see there, and when I repeatedly tell myself I am going to put it down but discover that I cannot, I need to be willing to examine what kind of authority I have given this thing over me.

“All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient... I will not be brought under the power of any.”
1 Corinthians 6:12

That last statement deserves our attention: “I will not be brought under the power of any.”

WHO IS ACTUALLY IN CONTROL?

I don't believe the answer is necessarily for every Christian to delete every social media account. But I do believe we need to stop treating this casually.

We are carrying technology that can learn our habits, recognize patterns in our behavior, compete for our attention, consume enormous amounts of our time, and continually place desirable things within reach. That requires discipline.

Sometimes holiness looks like turning your eyes away. Sometimes self-control looks like closing an app. Sometimes wisdom looks like unfollowing an account, removing an application, setting a boundary, or deciding that something other people can handle is something you cannot. There should be no shame in recognizing your own weakness. There is wisdom in knowing where you are vulnerable and refusing to continually place yourself there.

So maybe the question isn't whether social media is good or bad. Maybe the better question is this: Can you tell it no?

Can you put it down when you intended to? Can you turn away when something appeals to your flesh? Can you leave an argument without having the last word? Can you see something you want and keep scrolling? Can you sit in silence without immediately reaching for your phone? Can you give God your attention without constantly feeling the pull to check something else?

Because if something is studying your appetites, learning your habits, competing for your attention, consuming your time, and continually placing your desires within reach, you had better have enough spiritual discipline to tell it no. If you discover that you can't tell it no, that may tell you something about who is actually in control.