Finally, living life online is fueling the rapid change of culture, and not always for the best. For example, there are few changes that have swept the cultural landscape more swiftly than the West flipping its views on all things related to homosexuality. As recently as 2004, polls conducted by the Pew Research Center showed that the majority of Americans (60%) opposed same-sex marriage. Today, 61% support it.
How did minds change so quickly?
In a telling study, Harvard University psychology professor Mahzarin Banaji investigated long-term changes in attitudes. He found that between 2007 and 2016, bias toward people who are gay decreased dramatically. There are many dynamics that could be associated with this, such as the growing visibility of gay people in popular culture (e.g., Ellen DeGeneres, the show Will and Grace), but why did the landslide toward cultural acceptance begin in 2007?
That was the year the iPhone was released, Facebook left the campus, Twitter was spun off, Google bought YouTube and launched Android, Amazon released the Kindle, and the internet crossed one billion users worldwide.
All to say, there can be little doubt that social media accelerates cultural change—for good or ill.
So should the church stay away?
Heavens, no.
This just tells us where “salt” and “light” are most needed.
This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.
