A presentation given at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Palo Alto, CA on March 13, 2011. It was a conversation about the pros and cons of digital technology and its affect on our faith & spirituality.

1. Wired, Worries & Wonders: Technology & Soul
presentation by Adam Walker Cleaveland
Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church, Palo Alto
March 13, 2011

2. Me
• Husband
• Pastor
• Blogger
• Designer
• Social Media Consultant
• Gadget Geek

3. Wonders & Worries?
This will help frame our conversation this morning.

4. Wired: Technology – It just is.

5. The air we breathe...
• This is the water we’re
swimming in - it’s not going
away
• Technology changes at a
rapid pace
• This isn’t a new conversation
• Technology expands our
world
• Use & moderation will look
different for everyone
• Nothing should get in the
way of our calling to love
God & love others, whether
that’s technology or
anything else

6. The Today Show - 1994: “What is internet?”
• “What is Internet” Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUs7iG1mNjI

7. Web 1.0 & Web 2.0: What’s the difference?
• Static content • Dynamically generated content
• Enhancing knowledge • Enhancing creativity
• Information download • Information sharing
• Little to no interaction • Collaboration
• Users are passive recipients of • Users are required to engage
information with information, create it
• FINDING • CREATING & SHARING

8. Did You Know 4.0
• “Did You Know 4.0” video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILQrUrEWe8

9. Wonders: Creativity, Connection &
Collaboration

10. Creativity...

11. Pomplamoose covers Beyonce’s “Single
Ladies”
• Pomplamoose: http://www.youtube.com/PomplamooseMusic
• Single Ladies cover: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIr8-f2OWhs

12. Connection...
• Example: Connecting with
members of church
• New communities are formed
• Deeper connection are made
within already existing
communities
• Connection with the world:
Iran, Egypt, Japan...

13. Ambient Awareness
"They call it “ambient awareness.” It is, they say, very much like being physically
near someone and picking up on his mood through the little things he does —
body language, sighs, stray comments — out of the corner of your eye. This is
the paradox of ambient awareness. Each little update — each individual bit of
social information — is insignificant on its own, even supremely mundane. But
taken together, over time, the little snippets coalesce into a surprisingly
sophisticated portrait of your friends’ and family members’ lives, like thousands
of dots making a pointillist painting. This was never before possible, because in
the real world, no friend would bother to call you up and detail the sandwiches
she was eating." (source link)

14. Collaboration...

15. Collaboration...
• Wikipedia is more accurate.
• New ways of working
together
• Open-source preaching
• Liturgy & worship that truly
are “the work of the people”
• Is our worship & ministry
operating from a 1.0 world
mindset or a 2.0 world...?

16. Web 1.0 & Web 2.0: What’s the difference?
• Static content • Dynamically generated content
• Enhancing knowledge • Enhancing creativity
• Information download • Information sharing
• Little to no interaction • Collaboration
• Users are passive recipients of • Users are required to engage
information with information, create it
• FINDING • CREATING & SHARING

17. Worries: Privacy & Too Much?

18. Privacy...
• Young people often don’t
get this
• Once it’s out there, it’s out
there
• Must know & understand
privacy settings on social
networks
• Privacy connected to safety
• Caveat: Publicness is good

19. Jeff Jarvis on
“Publicness”
“In Public Parts, I’ll argue, as I have
here, that in our current privacy
mania we are not talking enough
about the value of publicness. If we
default to private, we risk losing the
value of the connections the internet
brings: meeting people,
collaborating with them, gathering
the wisdom of our crowd, and
holding the powerful to public
account. Yes, I believe we have a
right and need to protect our
privacy – to control our information
and identities – but I also want the
conversation and our decisions to
include consideration of the value of
sharing and linking. I also want to
protect what’s public as a public
good; that includes our internet. We
have plenty of privacy advocates. I
want to be a publicness
advocate.” (source link)

20. Just too much...?
• Facebook friends
• Pre-school reunion???
• Relationships used to last
for seasons, not we carry
them all with us
• Too much sharing? Potential
for narcissism?
• Always connected
• Smartphones in bedrooms?
81.5% said YES

21. So where do we
go from here?

22. #1: Enjoy it!
• We live in an EXCITING time
• Embrace the awesomeness
• Use technology for good
• Connect with and help out
other people
• Get creative

23. #2: Vibrate: OFF
• Spiritual direction
• Make yourself “unavailable”
• There was life before
smartphones
• Rejoice in the WIFI
connections that go down
• Connect with God
(whatever that looks like for
you) and not with others

24. #3: Be aware.
• Work on your awareness
• Use common sense
• You will know - or your
spouse/partner/child will let
you know
• Notice when it’s becoming a
distraction to your
spirituality and connection
with God

25. Questions & Responses

26. Sources
• New York Times article: “I’m So Totally, Digitally, Close to You”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/magazine/07awareness-t.html
• “What is Internet” Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUs7iG1mNjI
• Pomplamoose: http://www.youtube.com/PomplamooseMusic
• Jeff Jarvis & “Public Parts”
http://thefastertimes.com/mediaandtech/2010/05/20/jeff-jarvis-we-have-plenty-of-
privacy-advocates-i-want-to-be-a-publicness-advocate/
• “Did You Know 4.0” video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILQrUrEWe8

27. Wired, Worries & Wonders: Technology & Soul
Connect with me here:
Email: cleave@gmail.com
Facebook: facebook.com/adamwc
Twitter: @adamwc
Web: www.adamwc.com
Slides available here: www.slideshare.net/adamwc