2. Culture Space
The Unbeatable Son
Social Media & Online Learning, CODEC
Director, Digital Fingerprint
T: @drbexl
W: drbexl.co.uk
Dr Bex Lewis
Writer, Speaker, Broadcaster
T: @sheridanvoysey
W: sheridanvoysey.com
Sheridan Voysey
4. Introducing
Dr Bex Lewis
Research Fellow in Social Media &
Online Learning
CODEC, St John’s College, Durham
Director, Digital Fingerprint
T: @drbexl
F: /drbexl
W: drbexl.co.uk
7. “I wonder if a lot of our culture hasn’t become about
reaching a bar that we can’t possibly reach. I wonder if
we’ve screwed ourselves over to be able to find real
happiness.”
@anya_katie, on http://www.threadsuk.com/my-addiction/
13. I share, therefore I am
Sherry Turkle, psychologist and MIT professor
of Social Studies of Science and Technology.
14.
15. Today we’re in the process of rewriting these
sociological chapters, one I would title The
Presentation of Self in Digital Life, or How I Learned
to Stop Worrying and Post on Facebook. We no
longer just wake up and brush our hair to try and
look presentable in the morning; we also have to
groom our virtual selves as well—albeit an often
Photoshopped version.
http://www.wired.com/cs/promo/blogs/changeaccelerators/2011/09/21/how-social-networking-is-
extending-our-nervous-system/
16. You know the sense that
nowadays we always need to be
improving ourselves – getting
fitter, thinner, more skilled, less
stressed. Society seems to have a
compulsive need to see us
constantly bettering ourselves.
Someone argued that humanity
has become nothing other than a
resource to be updated.
@pmphillips
17. Renfrew Center Survey
February 2014 (1)
“All this taking and posting photos has become
an obsession of sorts. We feel pressured to edit
and alter our images so we look like what we
think of as our ‘best selves’ instead of our real
selves”, said Adrienne Ressler, Vice President,
Professional Development, The Renfrew Center
Foundation, and renowned body image expert.
renfrewcenter.com/news/afraid-be-your-selfie-survey-reveals-most-people-photoshop-their-images
18. Renfrew Center Survey
February 2014 (2)
“The concern is that these social media
habits can fuel negative self-esteem or
body image issues, setting the stage for
addictions or other destructive behaviors
such as eating disorders. The high is never
high enough, the scale is never low enough
and the image posted on social media is
never good enough.”
renfrewcenter.com/news/afraid-be-your-selfie-survey-reveals-most-people-photoshop-their-images
19. Facebook Depression?
Some teenagers would say we
have to get a grip on this: “My
life looks better on the
Internet than it does in real
life. Everyone’s life looks
better on the Internet than it
does in real life. The Internet is
partial truths – we get to
decide what people see and
what they don’t.”
20.
21. Susan Sontag (2001)
“One of the tasks of photography is to disclose,
and shape our sense of, the variety of the world.
It is not to present ideals. There is no agenda
except diversity and interestingness. There are
no judgments, which of course is itself a
judgment… The camera shows us many worlds,
and the point is that all the images are valid.”
http://tapera.info/textos/Sontag1.http://tapera.info/textos/Sontag1.pdf
25. Discuss
•If we are the face of God in the world, how
do we redeem our cultural spaces?
•How do we balance authenticity with
presenting ourselves in the media?
•What do you stand FOR, rather than against?
52. Crouch: Postures Towards Culture
•Condemnation: this group just dismisses popular or secular
culture as sinful.
•Critique: this group, a la Francis Schaeffer, evaluates
culture, probing its worldview.
•Copying: after Schaeffer, evangelicals began simply
copying pop culture. CCM was one prominent result.
•Consumption: today, however, most evangelicals are avid
consumers of secular and pop culture.
Summarised by Mark Ward Jnr
53. Creating Culture, Andy Crouch
The postures of the artist and the gardener have a
lot in common. Both begin with contemplation,
paying close attention to what is already there.
The gardener looks carefully at the landscape; the
existing plants, both flowers and weeds; the way
the sun falls on the land. The artist regards her
subject, her canvas, her paints with care to discern
what she can make with them.
Culture Making (31%)
54. But we must reclaim the cultural
mandate to be the creative
cultivators that God designed us to
be. Culture is what we make of the
world, both in creating cultural
artifacts as well as in making sense
of the world around us. By making
chairs and omelets, languages and
laws, we participate in the good
work of culture making.
Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling
Andy Crouch
Image Source: Andy Crouch Blog
55. Generally, old media don't die.
They just have to grow old
gracefully. Guess what, we still
have stone masons. They haven't
been the primary purveyors of the
written word for a while now of
course, but they still have a role
because you wouldn't want a TV
screen on your headstone.The
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Future
Douglas Adams
Image Source: Wikipedia
56. REVELATION 21:1
Then I saw a new heaven and a
new earth, for the first heaven and
the first earth had passed away,
and the sea was no more.
57. But a large number of them have
never heard the name of Jesus
Christ in any form but profanity,
have never opened a Bible or
heard a Bible story, and have no
idea of the Judeo-Christian
heritage of our western culture.
Just Leave God Out Of It, p18
Tim Riter/David Timms
59. What universities and the media
teach today, we have to live with
tomorrow. The students go on to
write newspapers and write soap
operas. Scientific research done on
the basis of theory that would
raise the eyebrows of many
cannot be undone.
Meltdown: Making Sense of a Culture in Crisis
Marcus Honeysett
60. #SH2014 THEME GUIDE
“We cannot make up a Jesus to suit our
culture or water down who Jesus is to
make him more acceptable to those
around us.”
62. The Christianity of private piety,
affluent conformity, and only “God
bless America” has compromised
the witness of the church while
putting a new generation of
Christians to sleep. Defining faith
by the things you won’t do or
question does not create a
compelling style of life.
Irresistible Revolution (Foreword)
Jim Wallis
63.
64. Discuss
•How can we bring resurrection to our cultural
spaces?
•Think about ‘friendship’ in a digital age. How can we
bring resurrection in a world that encourages
‘friendship clearouts’?
•How does this translate to ‘mission’?
65. #SHCulture Challenge…
•Look around you, and identify something
‘waiting for resurrection’
•Capture a photo and share via Twitter or
Instagram