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The documentary chosen for this critique was ‘Generation Like’, which focuses on a generation which is completely engrossed in social media. The documentary follows how social media is used by everyone, how it’s used by marketing companies to make money, and how companies use is to get their products and content out into the hands and mind of the people. Everything revolves around the ‘likes’, ‘views’, ‘subscribers’, and etc. The overwhelming themes that the documentary touched on were the themes of being seen, liked, and gaining popularity through a video, profile, or a blog. This was not only for teens, but also adults, and companies alike.
Looking at these themes, I began to think about James Kouzes and Barry Posner’s ‘Christian Reflections on the Leadership Challenge’ and the five practices for exemplary leadership. Based on those practices, I tried to decide whether these popular social media figures would be considered leaders. In all honesty, my decision was a quick one and overwhelming no. While there are some qualities of these social media users that may qualify them as leaders, they are all working for their own self interests. Social media in its early stages was used to help college students to link up and study together. Now it has become a popularity contest for all. Those who started out in social media in its early beginnings, were able to set the tone for other popular users to come. As the Internet grew and people wanting to be accepted the use of social media changed.
One of the five practices of a leader is modeling the way for others. However, it’s not just about being an example of what people can do, but being an actually role model people can look up to. It is hard to say this is the reality about most social media figures when everything they do is not to inspire others, but rather to get the most ‘likes’ or ‘views’. Doing things on camera that are borderline harassment is seen as comedy and it opens a door for others to do the same and even go past that line to actual harassment, which has happened many times. The wanting of acceptance and the approval of others has made Kouzes and Posner write something is also very relevant when it comes to the social media market: “Leadership is a relationship between those who aspire to lead and those who choose to follow”. Social media is all about how many followers you have and how many people see or watch your content. People want more followers, but are not necessarily leaders. While there is a relationship between the follower and the social media figure being followed, it is not a relationship that could be considered one of a leader and a follower. A leader is constantly engaging with the follower, but it is so that the follower grows as an individual. When a social media figure engages with followers, it’s to get more attention.
Andy Crouch writes in his ‘Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling’: “The truth is that culture, precisely because it is world-sized, is simply too complex for anyone to control or predict”. As Christians, we may not be able to change this culture of ‘likes’, but instead we can use it for God’s glory. Over the years, there have been many Christian leaders engaging more and more with social media because they know that’s where they get the largest audience, especially when trying to reach young people. Social media has not exactly changed culture, rather it has put a spotlight on different parts of it, magnifying how good or bad they are. It’s true that much of our culture is made up of negativity, however as Christian we are supposed to be the light and salt of the world. Let us not try to change the world or culture, but rather cut through it and make Jesus a part of it.
Works Cited
- Crouch, Andy. ‘Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling’. InterVarsity Press, 2013.
- Kouzes, James M., and Barry Z. Posner, editors. ‘Christian Reflections on the Leadership Challenge’. Jossey-Bass, 2004.
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