Yesterday I deleted my account on the platform formerly known as Twitter and now renamed X. After investing thousands of hours on the platform over the last 15 years, it became clear that it was time to part ways. Memories I've reflected on my experience at several points along the 15 year journey, including: So What? Social media has changed a great deal over the last fifteen years. Importantly, the platform formerly known as Twitter has changed dramatically only over the last Read More …
8 Meaningful Quotes (#2105)
For nearly a decade I've engaged in the spiritual practice of tweeting meaningful messages from the new books I'm reading (for example, Tweets Worth Thinking About) in the form of short quotations. I invite you to read through the seven tweets below, which I shared on X (formerly known as Twitter) over the last two months. (All but one of these quotes comes from a book published in 2023 or 2024. The Seth Godin quote was from a blog post he published in 2024.) So Read More …
14 Years of Tweeting (#2080)
A few days ago the social media platform formerly known as Twitter alerted me it was my 14th anniversary as @sowhatfaith. Since this may be my last such anniversary, I decided this was a good time to reflect on my journey. Getting Started In the early years, I spent more time on Twitter than anywhere else in social media land. And, I regularly wrote about those experiences here on So What Faith, including celebrating several twitterversaries and a reflection an award I Read More …
Top 5 Tweets of 2020 (#1903)
The following five tweets by @SoWhatFaith generated the most impressions in 2020. These top tweets are all quotes from books or sermons by William J. Barber, II; Anna Woofenden; Brian McLaren; and Barbara Brown Taylor. I invite you to share which of these quotes you found most interesting or engaging, and why. Read More …
Social Media in the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic (#1885)
Social media has played such a significant role for so long that I rarely think about life before social media. Perspective When I stop and think about the arrival of social media - and the onset of my utilization of it - I recognize that I spent most of my life in a pre-social media world. I started using social media in my thirties. In 2009, I entered the world of social media when I joined Facebook. Later that year I started this blog and joined Twitter. I added LinkedIn in 2011 Read More …
Christians Don’t Own Jesus (#1787)
Over the last 9 1/2 years, I've been rather active on Twitter. While the frequency of my tweeting has varied, I've never walked away from the platform for an extended period of time. After 14,200 tweets I was surprised to find that something I tweeted yesterday has been liked more than any of my other tweets. So What? The tweet is quote from page 157 of Barbara Brown Taylor's new book: Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others I'm pleased to know that more Read More …
The Latest Step in My Social Evolution (#1692)
I was born in Texas and have spent most of my life as a resident of this great state. Over the years I have heard the following expression used and seen it on bumperstickers and tee-shirts many times: I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could. Getting Social I was not born in the age of the internet. I was taught that a social was an occasion for people to be together in the same physical space. While I was not among the first to create a robust online Read More …
Christian Alternative Facts (#1671)
The term "alternative facts" is one of the most popular phrases of 2017. On Friday evening I found that it was being applied to Christianity on Twitter with the hashtag #ChristianAltFacts. I was quickly drawn in by a few remarks by academics and lingered to appreciate the wisdom of a wide range of tweeters. "Jesus thinks your gun is awesome. #ChristianAltFacts" --@evandeneykel (Eric Vanden Eykel, Assistant Professor of Religion, Ferrum College) "Nothing important happened after Read More …
Twitter: My First 6 Years (#1584)
I started my social media journey in 2009 by launching this blog, opening a Facebook account, and beginning to tweet. At that time, I realized I was anything but an early adopter of Facebook (stats show around 300 million active users by the time I joined) or blogging (stats show around 125 million active bloggers started blogging before I did). I was, however, a part of Twitter before it really took off (stats show only about 15 million active accounts at the time I Read More …
#SundayWisdom (#1357)
The CANA Initiative (Convening, Advocating, Networking, Acting) is a collective of faith-engaged people and entities (Roman Catholic, Evangelical, Mainline Protestant, Orthodox, and other Christians who believe the future for Christian life and mission will be different in many ways from the past and present), that brings together diverse and innovative leaders to collaborate in the development of new ways of being Christian. During Lent, Diana Butler Bass – a CANA initiator Read More …