Cedars, April 2019

necker said. “I’ve never really been about the ‘hey everybody, here’s what I’m doing’ kind of platform.” He also uses YouTube, which he appre- ciates because it allows him to search spe- cifically for the content he wants. Whereas Facebook and other social media can just be a waste of time. “You wind up stuck in there looking at stuff that, honestly, does not improve the quality of your day,” he said. “Even the positive stuff — it’s just not really worth my time.” Stahlnecker said that while his friends have accounts on social media, they have a “healthy skepticism” of the platforms. “There does seem to be a growing dis- dain, at least for certain websites. ... I don’t know whether that’s because our interests have changed with age and maturity, or whether that’s because general public opin- ion is shifting — might be some of both,” he said. “I think that most of [my friends] un- derstand that it’s not worthy of more than five minutes of their time in a day.” Besides being a waste of time, Stahl- necker noted that there are some concerns about social media’s political bias. “I do think it’s a little bit concerning that, Facebook for instance, thinks that they need to take it upon themselves to de- termine what kind of speech is available on their platform,” he said. “I thought the pur- pose [of social media] was to be … a medium for free discourse. And it seems that they’ve decided of late that they’d rather be pub- lishers. Which I don’t think is a wise step for them, because it makes them responsible for every word spoken on their platform.” Parr also noted the growing concern of social media’s bias in terms of filtering out specific information. “The issue is that sinners use this tech- nology,” he said. “And so, unfortunately, it’s going to be often, an expression of a fallen nature that we as sinners have.” These concerns and thoughts about the Facebook platform may show where its future lies. As people become more disil- lusioned with the world that Facebook has created for them, more and more people might leave the service. Whether or not this will actually be true is yet to be seen. Or, it may be that people simply don’t care about whether or not what Facebook presents is true. Although Facebook seems to be de- clining, Parr said he believes that social media as a whole will continue to grow. However, while social media can be used effectively by ministries and outreach, it can also be used to spread lies and misin- formation. “I think social media has a bright fu- ture, in terms of expansion,” Parr said. “Whether it’ll be beneficial or not is another thing.” Callahan Jones is a senior journalism ma- jor and the digital and design editor for Cedars. In his free time, he enjoys making coffee, being overly critical about music and playing games with friends. Paolo Carrion is a junior journalism major and the Arts and Entertainment section ed- itor for Cedars. He is learning how to cook, and his roommate is very proud of the sri- racha-glazed chicken he made for dinner that one time. April 2019 11 OFF CAMPUS www.resoundradio.com Listen Online Now! Student Focused Radio 24/7 (937) 766-9852 105 W Xenia Ave, Cedarville, OH 45314 From oil changes to brake jobs we have proudly served the Cedarville community for over ten years. Free shuttle service for University students! Photo courtesy of Nate Stahlnecker Nate Stahlnecker personally finds no use for social media. “I would do the occasional political rant or reply to someone who I found particularly ignorant,” he said. “And I don’t think that was particularly healthy.”