Can Social Media Replace Real Community?

By Megan Forgey, Communications Consultant.

Early on in quarantine, I used social media to fill in the gaps of what vanished in my social life due to COVID-19. I tuned in to cocktail classes on Instagram, played games with friends over Zoom, and even took a workout class on Facebook Live. Because of this continued connectedness, quarantine hasn’t felt too lonely.

Most of us rely on social media everyday for quick news bytes and connecting with family and friends. Now, in the face of a pandemic, we are using social media to be the church. Many churches have engaged with new and familiar faces by sharing a service over Facebook and sharing quarantine recipes on Instagram.

Just as we cannot expect virtual church to have the same feeling of in-person church, sitting in our favorite pew, with the familiar waft of incense drifting over us as the cantor sings the opening hymn, we cannot expect social media to be the same kind of connective force as in-person community. The shift comes when we shape our perspective of what community through social media can look like. 

Right now, community through social media is a way to keep ourselves and our loves ones safe. Connecting with a stranger on a Facebook page does not feel the same as hugging a new friend, but it’s certainly better than the alternative.

Especially right now, what can make our social media community even more universal is that we are all facing the same challenging and yes, as the commonly used phrase “unprecedented time”. To varying degrees, we are all dealing with job loss or insecurity, anxiety, and loneliness. 

For right now, social media is a lifeline and a connecting bridge for the unexpected timeline of when life begins to resume normality. 

As so many of us have adapted quickly to this new time, working from home, having school from home, we also have to adapt our views on what community can look like. Now, when we have to rely on these social media platforms for entertainment, staying informed about news, and to stay connected with family members, we have the chance to change the way we view social media. 

Social media is obviously no substitute for the feeling we get from sharing a meal with friends or family, but in a time when doing so potentially risks others lives, it is a safe connector. Until it is safe to do so, making our social media channels a more community-based, loving, and generous place is a way for us to be the church to everyone we digitally encounter. 

Here are a few tips for keeping your community alive on social media:

• Ask open-ended questions on social media about everyday life i.e. where they have found beauty in their life this week

• Invite others to share recipes, quarantine tips, etc

• Join Facebook groups based on interests