Smart Use of Smart Phones

Smart phones give us instant connection to friends far away – and often distance from those sitting next to us. They give access to global information – and fake news. Increased safety for teens – and cyber-bullying. Direct participation in political life – and interference in elections.  Positive and negative impacts permeate every area of life. There is even an app to alert parents when a baby’s diaper needs changing. The lines between benefit and harm are not always straight or clear.  

At a deeper level, smart phones seem to bring the world to our finger tips, but they actually deliver us to marketers on a global advertising platform. Who is in control and what is controlled may be the opposite of what we think. 

A comparison between two “go-to” places from my iPhone, Wikipedia and Facebook, is instructive. Wikipedia overcame early fears about being a source of disinformation to become a helpful reference tool, through careful regulation, managed by a collective, non-for-profit organization – although it still can’t be quoted as an authority for research projects. Facebook, in contrast, has lost credibility and now faces serious allegations of being complicit in real harm to real people. Is the critical difference the profit motive or acceptance of responsible regulation for the common good?  

CULTURE-SHAPING
Every area of my life is affected by smart phones – perhaps the least in church world, for better or worse. I recall learning in history class how leaders of the Reformation strategically used the invention of the printing press to change the societies in which they lived. I wonder if my great grandchildren will learn that smart phones and modern communication tools contributed to decline in the church’s influence or that Christians used them to transform society. 

Churches are starting to use smart phones to share information, through the Bridge app, for example, in the Christian Reformed Church, and for evangelism, such as the Back to God Hour. Using them as a tool to influence culture, similar to the way the Reformers used the newly invented printing press, would include at least two additional dimensions. One would be helping church members think critically and strategically about their use of smart phones as tools to help shape contemporary culture. A second would be a strategy for the church, as a social institution, to use its voice and influence to help create a culture and public policies that reduce the negative impacts of each new communications tool and steer development toward responsible use that empowers more people to contribute to the common good.