Saturday Side Quest - Engaging VS Engaged
Where has faith and fandom intersected this week?
As a digital native, I’ve had an on-again, off-again relationship. It’s been confusing, manipulative, and misleading, and everyone has a different opinion on improving this relationship. I’ve broken things off and picked them back up—sometimes on the same day. Sometimes, I’ll return to the relationship and find that things completely changed—like I never knew anything about it in the first place
Before I confused my wife and family… I’m talking about my relationship with the mythical algorithm.
For any tried-and-true content creator, the algorithm is the white whale we all despise as much as we respect. For the uninitiated, the algorithm is a series of rules and code that arranges the sending and receiving of content on any given platform.
Ex. how you got served a specific YouTube video when you typed in, “how to fix toilet FAST”
As long as I’ve been online, I’ve heard of the evolving nature of this beast. I can recall rules that have varied from promoting gaming content to squashing animated content shorter than one minute to conspiracies about how many seconds you needed to let pass before swearing on YouTube.
Some social media companies will share their policies (it’s one of the few generous moves by Meta via Instagram). In contrast, others will force creators to put things together piecemeal and hope things perform well. YouTube has always been one of the most egregious offenders—I can’t tell you how many different think-pieces I’ve read on how to ‘get discovered’ on YouTube.
I’ve had a few moments where I’ve struck gold and found a niche moment and experienced the brief thrill of virality. Even still, I can’t say that I have anything particularly figured out that won’t have the potential to change with the weather.
Well, save for one thing. Relationships still rule.
Life got busy planting a church, and I stopped taking seriously my social media relationships. And I think most of my feeds suffered from it. I decided to nip that in the bud with the current Christian season of Lent, where one traditionally gives something up as a practice of contemplation.
Here’s my plan.
For those outside of the Christosphere, Lent is the time between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday, totaling 40 days. Sometimes, those observing will take the season to fast from sun-up to sundown. Others will cut off sweets or soda.
This year, I’ve been setting aside thirty minutes I would usually spend playing a game and forcing myself to scroll through my Instagram and Substack feeds instead.
I want not to mindlessly doomscroll but contemplate the human lives on my timeline.
On an algorithmic level, I have found this to be a universal truth of how to get one’s content to perform better. Shouting into a void is precisely that, but posting on a space where you have intentionally built rapport yields better results.
On a spiritual level, I’ve just enjoyed the process of seeing my feed as something more human. Since making social media my ‘job,’ I have lamented that I no longer garner any joy from the various platforms. This is a hopeful way I can recognize the sacred worth of those on my feeds and rekindle what it means to connect with them.
What am I actually doing, you may ask? It’s pretty straightforward.
During my time in those spaces each day, I intentionally avoid the accursed algorithm and sort by those I follow. I then scroll through the posts, stories, blogs, and images. I read them thoroughly, not scrolling or skipping any flippantly. When applicable, I try to always like them because I know how good it feels to receive that validation (healthy or not). Then, the real challenge was to leave a comment for as many as possible. So far, I have challenged myself to leave at least five comments daily.
The root of this concept is the title of this Side Quest: I am seeking to be intentionally engaged to take a breather from constantly focusing on being engaging.
Easter is still a few weeks away, and I can fully say I’ve found it edifying. Where I stand right now, I plan to keep it going after the season of Lent ends. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this practice. Couldn’t we all do a bit better to be listeners instead of always ‘talking’ online?
Past Post Follow-Up
Some of you may recall my previous article on the cell phone banning-debate:
I stand firmly by my conviction here and wanted to offer up a recent study that shows there is no connection between the restriction of cell phones and an improvement in mental health for those in the younger age range.
While I appreciate the pushback I received on that article and empathize with the parental concern, I find the pseudoscience fueled by fear of Jonathan Haidt to be deeply unhelpful.
In a world where the Roblox CEO advises, ‘Just don’t let your kids play Roblox’ to concerned parents, I think the school-led intervention of cell phone use is foisting the responsibility on the wrong party. Schools should be leading the charge of inappropriate use and education around safety online. Parenting is my more likely source of this lack. I invite you to keep your finger on the pulse of this issue, especially in an environment where there is an active assault on establishing accessible education.
Will It Preach?
I finished a few things this week, so I will reflect on them in this space. Would they preach? See if you agree with my take.
Everhood 2 (2025)
I’ve been hyped for this game since I rolled credits on the last one. I can say that this one didn’t follow the rules of the first game set at all. At first, I wasn’t sure how I felt, but after I’ve sat with it, I think the devs took a bold move and respect it. Must preach (and will soon 😉)
Avowed (2025)
I wasn’t expecting to like this game as much I did, especially since it was critically panned. But the themes and delivery of this game are so much better than the audience are giving them credit for. Must preach (and already has)
Lost Records: Bloom (2025)
This is the first entry into the two-part franchise debut from the OG Life Is Strange team. It’s a good start, albeit somewhat awkward. But that’s to be expected—it centers around teenage girls. I look forward to the next entry before taking a stab at a sermon of my own, but will preach
Calico (2020)
I don’t know, man. This game is pretty borked, but I’m a sucker for found family and community stories, so might preach?
Flow (2024)
I pushed this up my list after the Oscars nom. What a delightful animated flick! Will preach
The Credit Roll
These are some of the things I found this week that I am sharing as a bonus. Enjoy my custom For You feed.
MLB The Show 25 features a truly amazing catch that was captured by this streamer, haters will say it’s fake
A fascinating new ecological tech in Japan turning footsteps into energy
Bob Wulff found some convincing patents filed by Nintendo that lean towards the joycon being a mouse
Let me know if you have taken on a Lenten practice in the comments. I’d love to hear about it!