Don't Blame the Technology

Scott McClellan of Collide Magazine says “Don’t Blame the Technology“:

We need to constantly evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different media and then act accordingly. When we don’t, when we make poor technological choices, it’s us that have failed, not the technology. We fail when we respond to conflict via a microblogging service. We fail when we reduce the gospel to a bumpersticker. We’d fail if we attempted to make a marriage proposal via a text message. We’d fail if we attempted to use pre-recorded video (which is good for a lot of things) as an accountability partner. The strengths and weaknesses of all the media available to us need to fit our purposes if we’re to be effectice 21st-century church leaders. Otherwise, we’re basing our communication and leadership tactics on the convenience and shinyness of the toys at hand. And that just won’t do.

via Collide Magazine » Blog Archive » Don’t Blame the Technology.

We’ve done a lot of this thinking for you. Don’t let it substitute for thinking through the issues yourself, but here’s some starting points:

In Praise of Film
The Dangers of Film
In Praise of Television
The Dangers of Television
In Praise of Video Games
The Dangers of Video Games