Social Media Is a Neighborhood Built on Coveting

By Justin Poythress - Posted at Reformation 21:

"When it comes to social media, the chief value is coveting. The cry rings out from every side: 'Come here to covet, and to be coveted! Get the latest, get the greatest! Or be the greatest and the latest!'”

Every place has a feel, an impression or characteristic sensation. Home has a feel, even if it isn’t always positive. The neighborhood you grew up in has a feel. The noisy main street of your urban center has perhaps a collection of feels depending on the hour or day. Then there’s the shaded path in a wooded park, the nearby field after a fresh rain, or the indie coffee shop on the corner. You get the idea.

What if the “place” is online? As we enter the age of the metaverse, we need to become increasingly aware of the feel of online spaces. Social media websites are like miniature (or not so miniature) cities, each with a certain feel. And in two of the largest online cities, Facebook and Instagram, the dominant feel is one of covetousness — which, as Paul clarifies in Eph. 5:5 and Col. 3:5, is fundamentally an issue of idolatry.

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