Personal values and principles are forged throughout life and depend on a wide variety of aspects and circumstances. Personal experience may be determined as a primary source of change in terms of personal values. Experience, in general, may be defined as information accumulated by the individual during any event. Hence, information plays a vital role in the establishment of personal values (Majeed, 2021).
Modern society exists in the information age, where information itself becomes a value and numerous sources are available. Therefore, I believe that digital technology in general and social media, in particular, represent the most influential force that sets the tone for an individual’s personal values. People gain experience as they accumulate and analyze digital data, which, in return, transforms or shifts their life principles. Moreover, digital technology provides opportunities to communicate with people all over the globe, accessing diverse opinions and distinct perspectives regarding any subject. However, it also introduces access to big data, which is impossible for an individual to analyze comprehensively, and hence it may be hard to distinguish right from wrong.
As already mentioned, social media and informational technologies, in general, do not provide a one-sided view on any existing issue. Therefore, it may be impossible to identify if that force affects Christians positively or negatively. The power of digital influence is undeniably strong, yet its direction depends on the user and circumstances. Hence, Christians may transform social media and create information fields that may have a positive effect in return (Medrano, 2020). According to the Bible, people should “let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (2019). Conclusively, my advice would be to utilize the emerging digital opportunities to spread high morals and maintain “mutual upbuilding.”
References
Bible Society Australia. (2019). Holy Bible: English standard version.
Majeed, Z. (2021). Social media for social change: Developing social media strategies to influence negative cultural assumptions. Web.
Medrano, A. M. (2020). Making Religious Media. Belief in Media, 141–152. Web.