The Social Media Religion: Its Many Forms

Source: blog at techcrunch.com

If ‘Facebook’ were a religion, it would be the second largest religion in the world.

That’s what we got to know this week, when Facebook’s total worldwide users reached the astounding figure of 2 billion.

This global corporate giant in social media now accounts for over a quarter of the world's population!

If Christians are 2.3 billion on the planet, and if Muslims are 1.8 billion (as per the latest statistics on pewresearch.org), then the new number of Facebook members, now at 2 billion, shows us very clearly that we can almost call ‘Facebook’ the world’s second largest belief system.

But, come to think of it, has it not already become a religion?

The way we, around the world, are now almost worshipping it, around the clock. And the way we have now become ardent devotees of this phenomenal online social connectivity.

Is it not already making the real religious leaders shudder?

People wake up each morning not to offer a prayer first, but to check their Facebook app on their mobile phones. And people are going to bed each night, with the glare of the mobile phone screen on their faces in the dark; as they check - for the millionth time that day – if friends and family people have posted anything important. Anything that spurs a missionary zeal in them to like, share, and comment on posts.

The call of the red-notification on the Facebook app is now taking precedence over the call of prayer, from the nearby mosque.

But then, we know, there are also those who are complete unbelievers in the phenomenon called Facebook. Those who do not wish to convert to this faith. Even though many of their Facebook friends had been proselytising for long.

These unbelievers do not wish to leave their exclusive devotion to ‘WhatsApp’. And they lambast the believers of Facebook-ism on the amount of time the Facebookers are seemingly wasting on frivolity.

These ‘Exclusive Whatsappers’ somehow consider themselves baptised by fire to remain adherents to the doctrine of personal and private communication. On a higher spiritual plane. And they wield enormous power, administering WhatsApp groups with an orthodoxy that facebookers will never understand.

And then, there are also those of another religion called ‘Instagram’ism. These people believe in the enlightening tenet that “a picture is worth a thousand words”.

And they patiently thumb through thousands of pictures, reading volumes overnight, understanding – probably- the underlying existential struggles within the pictures posted by friends.

Many of the faithful are, however, completely unaware that 'Facebook' with 2 billion users, 'WhatsApp’ and ‘Facebook Messenger’ with 1.2 billion users each, and even ‘Instagram’ with 700 million users, are all owned by one single company.

Now, there are also the YouTube faithful who believe more in watching, than in posting. More in listening, than in reading. They indirectly show their charitable side -- by contributing generously and immensely to the coffers of Internet Service Providers through data consumption.

Facebook’s 2 billion number stands high “above YouTube’s 1.5 billion, WeChat’s 889 million, Twitter’s 328 million and Snapchat’s estimated 255 million (extrapolated from its December 2015 ratio when it had 110 million daily and 170 million monthly users)”, according to techcrunch.com.

Which brings me to address the minor sect called ‘tweeters’ – within the social media religiosphere - with a major impact on world affairs. Several political world leaders, and social celebrities have embraced this faith. And are often persecuted for their thoughts. Because this sect has also created a new 21st century marvel, of stalking and pouncing (on fellow tweeters if you don't like them). And its called trolling.

With millennials in its fold, another new age cult called ‘Snapchat’ is ushering in followers who faithfully practice newest rites and rituals. Such as large floral decorations of hair, sporting of cats’ whiskers and wagging of dogs’ tongues, on their contorted selfies.

All said and done, it is for us, the faithful followers, to choose which belief to follow. One or more.
It is for us to decide if our social media religious passion is coming in the way of our real life passion, or aiding it.

.....
(Today's piece in my Friday Column)