Jim Denison compares Internet churches to the televised churches of the 70s.
Have you heard of “Text Neck”? That’s the term therapists use for the effects of texting on our spines. They tell us that the average human head weighs 10 to 12 pounds. Tilting it down to look at a mobile device increases gravitational pull, so that the neck experiences a force of 60 pounds at a 60 degree angle. This is equivalent to putting four adult-sized bowling balls on your neck. Since the typical American spends an hour on his or her smartphone a day, spinal stress may lead to early wear, degeneration, and possible surgery.
Text neck is not the only unintended consequence of the technological revolution. The Islamic State continues to broadcast beheadings on YouTube because their videos shock the world and advance their cause among jihadists. The cousins who massacred Jewish rabbis in their synagogue on Tuesday knew their actions would bring instant global attention to their cause. (For more on the recent violence in Israel, see my article ‘Violence in the Holy Land: my view.’)
Twitter has now made available every public tweet sent since the service began in 2006. Who knows what embarrassment lies ahead for those whose long-forgotten tweets are reported to the world? Social media fueled the Arab Spring, but most who joined the movement are still waiting for the democratic reforms they sought. And the plague of Internet pornography is destroying lives and marriages around the world.