Social media statistics from 2019 show that there were 3.5 billion social media users worldwide and of course that has risen since then and continues to rise. That equates to about 45% of the current world population. ‘Four Communications’ estimates that “49% of consumers claim that they depend on influencer recommendations on social media to inform their purchasing decision”, meaning that if consumers feel confident in the recommendation from an influencer, they’ll be more likely to purchase the product.
In Romans 12:1-2 in The Message version we read:
“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”
Honest question, what’s influencing you?
As humans in a broken world we’re all flawed and we need to put our hope in and get our inspiration from something much bigger than ourselves and others. Ireland doesn’t need believers who are imitators of others, following and buying into the latest trends, instead it needs believers who are willing to take the time to intentionally get alone with God, digging deep into His word, intimately getting to know Him and being lead by the Holy Spirit in our daily lives. Our phones and those we follow shouldn’t tell us who we are and what our worth is. Only our Heavenly Father can do that. The more we scroll through the lives of others, the less we see the purpose and plans that He has created uniquely for us. If we know the routines and rhythms of social media influencers more than Jesus, then (harsh as it sounds) perhaps something needs to change in our lives.
So what do we do (and I’m speaking to myself as much as to anyone else!)? We stop scrolling, set down the phone, limit our intake from influencers and culture around us and come back to spending intimate time with Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life, allowing Him to mould us into our unique one-of-a-kind identity to be influencers in this land for Him.
Father, we thank You that technology has allowed us to connect with others, yet we also recognise how social media has distracted us from a full and satisfying life with You. Father, help me to set my eyes on You and be aligned with You allowing the Holy Spirit to lead me. Father I pray that You would give me the courage and boldness that I need to step away from culture and the pressures of this world, help me to identify and stand up as Your child, created for Your purpose in this land, for this season. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.