1. Somma 1
Lucas Somma
English 101
Professor Pelletier
29 October 2015
Redemption from Social Media
Michelangelo's, “The Creation of Adam”, found inside the Sistine Chapel, portrays the
Biblical account of creation. The noteworthy piece of art shows that Adam and God are eternally
close, but ultimately estranged due to Adam’s sin against God. In this, Michelangelo is
attempting to demonstrate that even though they are disassociated, God and Man will forever try
to reconnect. In a similar way, we are at a crossroads in our own civilization. Social media has
become our original sin—the idol we cannot let go of that prevents us from meaningful
relationships with each other. Interaction with one another has become a humdrum obligation, as
we continue to retreat into our distracted, alternative lives. If God and Man are separated by sin,
man and fellow man are separated by social-technologies..
This evening on my Instagram feed I saw Craig Groeschel, a prominent pastor and
author, post a particularly odd photo. Moments after his daughter was proposed to, he snapped a
picture of all the friends and family that witnessed the historic moment. Each and every person
was on their phone, likely trying to meticulously chronicle the event on various social platforms.
Although it was ironic that Groeschel was also on his phone during this noteworthy moment, his
point became clear—why was recording video and snapping photos to upload on their social
media accounts more important than celebrating what was occurring in the moment? We live in
odd times. Instead of enjoying the company of our friends at a meal, we’re either taking pictures
of our food. Instead of participating in the ongoing support of our community through

2. Somma 2
volunteerism, we reshare posts about ISIS, cancer, and Donald Trump to feel like more adequate
human beings. Instead of driving two hours and burning through large quantities of gas to visit a
friend in another state every other weekend, we’d rather FaceTime. We’re missing out on life
and we don’t even know it. Technology, of all sorts, has become a compromise to our
relationships.
We’ve allowed numbers, from the number of friends we have to the amount of times
we’re retweeted, to define our value as individuals. Although at first glance, this sounds like
more of a self-esteem issue rather than a human-relationship issue, the two are dangerously
intertwined. When we begin to measure our success as a human in the most nominal of ways—
such as the amount of likes on a photo—we subject ourselves to the authority of social media. In
other words, whatever self-affirmation we receive from likes, now clouds our judgement on how
we see others. We know what is popular—high-quality pictures of landscapes, photogenic and
flawless selfies, and quotes. We then judge other profiles on how well they fit into the model of a
popular person and subsequently, judge the user on whether or not they fit the bill as a person.
The same Bible that describes an atrocious and preventable divide between God and
Humanity, also describes a savior who rescues the world from Adam’s sin. I don’t believe that
cell-phones should die in order to save humanity as we know it. However, perhaps becoming
self-aware of our grotesque reliance on technology and consequently making it a point to use it
more responsibly, is the beginning of our redemption? In Christian belief, humanity is tasked
with believing in Christ and turning from sin in order to restore relationship with God.
Redeeming ourselves from the perils of technology has a lot less commitment. We must stop
ourselves from using a phone to distract ourselves. If we’re to grow as humans, our attention
spans and emotional intellectualism can only grow if we’re fully present to every moment in our

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lives. We must face life full-on, with every moment of bliss, sorrow, and dullness. This includes
abandoning our online personas. Social media must be an extension of who we are, not a
masquerade of who we’d like to be. Redemption starts in turning away from old ways of life...
every generation’s emotional/psychological/sociological evolutionary sustainability hinges on
our decision on whether or not we’re committed to being authentic people who go out of their
ways to interact with one another.