How Social Media Drives Christians to Break 1 Corinthians 5
How Social Media Drives Christians to Break 1 Corinthians 5
The Business Model of Social Media: Profit and Social Control
Social media is fundamentally a business model designed to maximize engagement because engagement means profit. Every major platform—YouTube, Facebook, Twitter (X), Instagram, and TikTok—thrives on keeping users interacting as long as possible. The longer someone stays, the more ads they see, the more data they generate, and the more valuable they become to advertisers and data brokers.
How Social Media Forces Engagement
It works through several key mechanisms:
1. Algorithmic Feeds – Platforms do not show content chronologically but rather curate it based on what will most likely keep the user hooked. They analyze past interactions, watch time, likes, and even pauses in scrolling to determine what content will hold attention.
2. Personalization & Addiction – AI-driven recommendation engines analyze user behavior to show content that generates the strongest emotional responses—often outrage, humor, or controversy. This leads to people feeling like their feeds are uniquely tailored to them, which keeps them coming back.
3. Social Validation (Likes, Shares, Comments) – Engagement loops make users feel rewarded when their content is interacted with, reinforcing participation. They also push users toward content that already has engagement, making viral trends snowball.
4. FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) – Social media creates an illusion that something important is always happening, which pressures users to check back frequently to stay “in the loop.”
5. AI-Powered Psychological Triggers – AI optimizes content to appeal to specific psychological triggers, such as curiosity gaps (headlines that force you to click to learn more), emotional manipulation, and dopamine-driven feedback loops.
The Business Model: Profit & Social Control
Social media doesn’t just care about profit—it also serves as a tool for social control. Governments and corporations both benefit from platforms that shape public opinion and nudge behavior. AI is a huge part of this, as it is used to:
- Prioritize narratives that align with corporate and government interests.
- Suppress content that goes against the dominant ideology (shadowbanning, de-ranking).
- Encourage tribalism and division because polarized users stay engaged longer.
YouTube’s Engagement Tricks
Yes, if you watch a video, you are contributing to engagement for that broadcaster in multiple ways:
1. Increased Visibility – Your watch counts toward total views, and if you engage with the video (like, comment, watch it fully), it signals to YouTube that the content is worth recommending to others.
2. Suggested Video Positioning – The videos you watch influence what shows up in recommendations for you and others. If a broadcaster gets more people watching their videos, their content is more likely to be suggested as “Next Up.”
3. Audience Targeting – YouTube tracks viewers and tries to match them with other viewers who have similar behaviors. This means if a broadcaster gets engagement from people who watch KJV-related videos, their content may be suggested to others interested in that topic.
4. Indirect Profile Linking – While YouTube doesn’t openly show who has visited a channel like Facebook does with profile visits, it does track interactions in the background. This means if you frequently watch a particular YouTuber, you may start seeing their content more often, and their audience may overlap with your recommendations.
Does YouTube Work Like Facebook’s Profile Visit Mechanism?
Facebook has a more direct way of showing who has visited your profile by adjusting the “People You May Know” section. YouTube doesn’t work exactly the same way, but it does use AI-driven tracking:
- If you repeatedly watch a broadcaster, their videos may be prioritized for you.
- Your watch history influences who YouTube thinks you “belong” with, meaning broadcasters may be indirectly pushed content related to you.
- Keywords (like KJV, end times, etc.) matter, but watch behavior is even more important. Two people searching “KJV” may get different results based on their previous engagement.
The Command of 1 Corinthians 5
In 1 Corinthians 5:9-13, the Apostle Paul explicitly instructs believers not to keep company with a so-called brother who is openly practicing sin. The sins mentioned include fornication, idolatry, covetousness, railing, extortion, and drunkenness. Paul clarifies that this separation applies to those who claim to be Christians but live in unrepentant sin. The principle is clear: fellowship within the body of Christ should not include those who persist in such behaviors.
Social Media and the Normalization of Sin
Social media functions through algorithms designed to maximize engagement. This engagement is often driven by controversy, emotional reactions, and unfiltered personal expression. As a result, many professing Christians engage in and tolerate behavior that would have been strongly condemned in a biblical church setting.
1. Public and Unrepentant Sin
Many Christians on social media openly engage in behaviors that align with the sins listed in 1 Corinthians 5. Alcohol use is widely accepted and flaunted, while the habitual use of antipsychotics and other psychiatric medications is rarely examined through a biblical lens. If mind-altering substances fall under the category of "drunkenness," then many believers are willingly participating in what Scripture warns against.
2. Engagement Over Righteousness
The structure of social media incentivizes participation and interaction over holiness. Christians continue to associate with and affirm individuals who are openly violating biblical commands because engagement—likes, comments, and shares—is prioritized over obedience to Scripture. This leads to an environment where biblical rebuke is discouraged in favor of maintaining a digital presence.
3. The Digital Church and Lack of Accountability
Unlike a physical church, where elders and fellow believers can exercise biblical discipline, social media fosters a detached and self-directed version of Christianity. People are free to create online communities that suit their personal beliefs, often excluding correction and accountability. The result is the normalization of sinful behavior, as those who should be confronted for their actions instead find others who justify and encourage them.
4. The Excuse of Tolerance
Modern culture, heavily influenced by secular ideals, has instilled in many believers the idea that separating from those who live in sin is "unloving." However, 1 Corinthians 5 is clear that such separation is necessary. Social media distorts this biblical command by making it seem judgmental to cut ties with professing Christians who engage in unrepentant sin. Instead of obeying Scripture, many choose to tolerate sin in the name of maintaining online connections.
Conclusion
Social media, by design, fosters an environment where Christians are pressured to compromise biblical principles for the sake of digital relationships. The engagement-driven nature of these platforms encourages tolerance of sin, undermining the clear teaching of 1 Corinthians 5. If believers are serious about following Scripture, they must recognize the influence of social media in leading them to break this command and take steps to align their online interactions with biblical truth.