Will Facebook
replace the church? If Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s vision for the future
is correct, the answer is yes—it will.
In
a speech in June,
Zuckerberg suggested that Facebook’s online communities may be poised to
replace organizations that used to bring large numbers of people together—organizations
like churches.
"Membership in all kinds of
groups has declined as much as one-quarter," he said, noting that participation
in organized religion has decreased.
"That's a lot of people who now
need to find a sense of purpose and support somewhere else."
Zuckerberg thinks Facebook can help
fill the gap. But it will need help from people who can organize these new
communities.
"A church doesn't just come
together. It has a pastor who cares for the well-being of their congregation,”
he said.
To help all those non-churchgoers find
new communities, Zuckerberg will use Facebook's artificial intelligence
algorithm.
"We started a project to see if
we could get better at suggesting groups that will be meaningful to you,” he
stated.
“We started building artificial
intelligence to do this. And it works. In the first six months, we helped 50%
more people join meaningful communities."
His ultimate goal is to convince half
of Facebook’s two billion users to join Facebook communities.
"If we can do this, it will not
only turn around the whole decline in community membership we've seen for
decades, it will start to strengthen our social fabric and bring the world
closer together,” he stated.
Bringing people closer together is so
important that "we're going to change Facebook's whole mission to take
this on."
Zuckerberg isn’t wrong; people are
leaving organized religion. Between the “nones” and the “dones,” active
participation is falling dramatically in North America and Europe.
But is Facebook the answer? Or does
old-fashioned getting together still have something to offer?
That’s a good question to ponder in
light of a new study about the health effects of attending a physical place of
worship.
According
to the study,
published in May by medical researchers from various U.S. universities, “increased religiosity (as determined by church
attendance) is associated with less stress and enhanced longevity” for
middle-aged adults.
The results of the study, they went on to say, “underscore
the potential importance of church attendance . . . as a mediator of health and
lifespan.”
This latest research stands in a long
line of studies that have found a positive relationship between attending
religious services and good health. But what researchers don’t know is why. Is
it the prayers? The music? The sermon? The coffee time after the service?
Two ideas suggested by researchers are
the larger sense of meaning and purpose that religion provides, along with the social
connections and support people feel from belonging to a worshipping community.
Of course, not all religious
experiences are positive. Some forms of religion cause people to feel judged,
guilty, depressed and oppressed. But overall, studies have shown that being
religious has produces positive health benefits, both physically and mentally.
Can Facebook replicate what religion
provides? I have my doubts. I like my online groups, but they don’t fill me
with meaning and purpose. Plus, if I’m sick, or having a tough time, I might get
lots of likes, comments and sympathy from my online friends, but who will show
up to cut my grass, shovel my driveway, or bring me soup?
That’s hard for someone who lives across
town, much more for someone on the other side of the world.
A number of years ago author and
historian Martin Marty addressed the then hot topic of people saying they had stopped
going to church because they were spiritual, not religious.
That was all fine and good, he said,
but he warned: “Spirituality doesn’t bring you a casserole when you are sick.”
The same would be true for
Facebook—unless Mark Zuckerberg has a vision for that, too.
From the July 15, 2017 Winnipeg Free Press.
From the July 15, 2017 Winnipeg Free Press.
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