We all know social media changes our mind, but how does it change our mindset? We’ve all probably heard a story of online bullying or about widely-shared fake news but what drives these behaviors? We know interactions on social media are different from offline, but how are they different? And how does this change us?

This is the second video in my series on evangelizing social media and hopefully, it can answer those questions. If you haven’t seen the first video, I strongly encourage you to do so as it gives some background and history. These videos were recorded from talks I gave a small group.

Main Ways Social Changes Our Mindset

I want to outline a few of the key ways social media affects our mind: watching the video gives you much more information.

Social Media is now becoming invisible and assumed in society. How is my mindset changed by pulling out my phone 10 minutes after meeting someone to become their friend on Facebook? Does invisibility give it more or less power over me?

Twitter, Facebook, etc. make most of their money off ads so want us to view more ads. How do their commercial interests affect how we experience it?

Brandon Vogt said in 2011, “New Media tends to cultivate relationships that are a mile wide and an inch deep… New Media’s sporadic content makes it difficult to sustain long, in-depth conversations offline.” Does that still apply? Is social media making us more superficial?

Our society is already subjective and kind of narcissistic focusing on the individual. Instagram and other social media seem to promote that too, or do they really?

Have you heard of the Online Disinhibation Effect? It is a form of online lack of civility and groupthink. Almost double the percent of anonymous comments were rude.

What mindset gets to the top on social media vs. a pre-literate or mass media society?

Erik Qualman noted, “What happens in Vegas stays on YouTube.” How does permanence affect social relationships?

I cover all of these in the video.

Concluding Notes

I will gladly give these or similar presentations on social media for Catholic organizations (parishes, schools, dioceses, etc.), simply use the contact form on this site. Please stay tuned for more. I will be posting one a week for the next two weeks.

Other Talks in the Series

You can subscribe to the YouTube playlist if you want to see them all.

Talk #1 is a basic outline and history of social media. Talk #3 is on evangelizing a social media culture. The Last talk is on evangelizing on social media.