Posts Tagged ‘Social Media’

Torturing of witchcraft suspects posted on social media

Tuesday, October 27th, 2015

A gruesome video online shows the torture of four women accused of witchcraft and “invisibly” taking out a man’s heart and eating it in a village of Papua New Guinea. The footage, reportedly taken in a village of the Enga province, shows four women who have been stripped, tied up, burned and beaten. Several men Read more

UK Chief Rabbi calls for ‘Sabbath’ from social media

Tuesday, October 13th, 2015

Britain’s Chief Rabbi has warned that the UK is in danger of falling prey to an addiction to social media at the expense of real human relationships. Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said the ancient Jewish principle of observing the Sabbath or a day of rest is an “antidote” to such an addiction. The orthodox Jewish interpretation Read more

Save your marriage; unfriend your spouse on Facebook

Tuesday, September 29th, 2015

Couples who delete each other on Facebook are more likely to stay together, according to relationship expert Ian Kerner. The New York-based therapist claims that unfriending your significant other on social media can put the spark back into a relationship. Even better, he says, people should delete their Facebook accounts entirely to free up more Read more

Rethinking the Church’s social media usage

Friday, August 21st, 2015

Back in 2009, conservative theologian John Piper seemed to be criticising people for wasting time on social media when they should have been praying instead. It is ironic that he decided to use social media to say this. Sadly, Piper’s approach is echoed by most Christian commentary on the subject. Almost every Christian book I Read more

New media evangeliser Fr Robert Barron to be a bishop

Friday, July 24th, 2015

The priest believed to be the second most followed Catholic leader on social media has been appointed as an auxiliary bishop. Pope Francis has appointed Fr Robert Barron as one of three new auxiliary bishops of Los Angeles. Bishop-elect Barron is the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, host of the award-winning “Catholicism” film Read more

How social media is affecting parenting

Tuesday, July 14th, 2015

I was browsing my Facebook feed, enjoying pictures of my friends’ kids, dogs, and vacations. And that’s when I saw it: a close-up picture of a child’s portable potty. The pint-size throne was bright red, plastic, and – how to put this delicately? – filled with tangible results. “First time in the potty!” crowed the Read more

Chance pic of boy studying on street proves life-changing

Tuesday, July 14th, 2015

The reaction to a chance photo of a Filipino boy studying on the street by the light of a McDonald’s restaurant has shown the power of social media. Daniel Cabrera, 9, was photographed doing his homework outside a McDonald’s outlet in Mandaue City, Cebu, by medical technology student Joyce Torrefran. There is no lamp in Read more

Here’s how social media builds empathy

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2015

I saw it all in my newsfeed this week: a former roommate gave birth (to twins!), a friend raised money to rebuild his home after a fire, a grad school professor started chemotherapy for lymphoma and his digital support group, “#downwithlumpy,” went viral. I liked, donated, tweeted, commented and prayed over those updates. I witnessed Read more

Even on Facebook parents need immunity to embarrassment

Friday, November 28th, 2014

My mum had superhuman powers when I was a kid. When I was about eight, a friend and I would play spies on our council estate. We’d use the poorly designed walkways as our lookout posts, and the labyrinth of corridors were the motorways for our high-speed chases. The fun we were having was obviously Read more

First selfies of Benedict XVI now on social networks

Tuesday, September 16th, 2014

The first “selfie” of retired pontiff Benedict XVI is making the rounds on social networks. The photo was shared by Gianluca Barile on his Twitter account on September 11 and is the first known selfie in which the retired Pontiff has appeared. Hours later, Barile published a second selfie of Benedict XVI. “There’s two, not Read more