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My TikTok Feed Is Just Girls Dancing!

Have you ever heard a pastor or church leader say something like that?

Author

Brady Shearer
March 28, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

Hey, it’s Brady,

“My TikTok feed is just girls dancing!”

Have you ever heard a pastor or church leader say something like that?

Here’s the truth: your social feeds are a mirror.

Want a real sober look at yourself? Hit the screen record on your phone, then open your social app and start scrolling.

Then watch it back. 🫣

There was a saying I heard a lot growing up: “Show me your bank account and I’ll show you your values.”

You don’t need bank statements for this anymore. Your social media feed is even more honest.

Remember, the #1 goal of any social platform is to keep you in the app for as long as possible. They have zero incentive to show you content you truly don’t want to see.

So the question becomes - is your feed really full of content you don’t like? Or are your watch habits not matching your values?

Is TikTok Safe For Churches?

Recently I got a DM from a church asking: Is TikTok safe?

They care about reaching Gen Z. But are worried about the platform’s alleged security concerns.

Is TikTok safe? I have seen your posts about Gen Z and we want to be able to reach anyone possible. The hesitation is from our marketing team leader who feels like TikTok might be unsafe from a government standpoint/cyber security.

And I get it…

TikTok has very real concerns.

Consider the two-year Guardian investigation suggesting TikTok has struggled to prevent criminals from using its platforms to buy and sell children for sex. This lead to the head of TikTok apologizing in front of congress:

"I’m sorry for everything you have all been through. No one should go through the things that your families have suffered and this is why we invest so much and we are going to continue doing industry-wide efforts to make sure no one has to go through the things your families have had to suffer."

Except that wasn’t the head of TikTok. It was Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta. Earlier this year.

That being said, it is an election year. And a foreign government interfering in the election would be awful.

TikTok would certainly be our biggest concern there, right?

…right?

“Russian agents intending to sow discord among American citizens disseminated inflammatory posts that reached 126 million users on Facebook, published more than 131,000 messages on Twitter and uploaded over 1,000 videos to Google’s YouTube service.” From detailed disclosures sent to Congress by the companies in 2017 on the heels of the 2016 election

Alright. Enough of me being glib.

The intent of this newsletter is not to convince your church to use TikTok.

Truly.

It’s about values.

Because a value only has weight when it's applied consistently - not selectively.

When I polled my audience last year, 90%+ of churches were active on Facebook and Instagram. Just 10% were active on TikTok.

According to Hootsuite’s 2022 Trends Report, Gen Z spends 23.6 hours per month on TikTok. More than any other social platform.

A place where churches are largely absent.

If your church opts not to use TikTok? I get it.

So long as we’re not selectively applying our values. Otherwise, those aren’t values at all.

That’s just personal preference masquerading as principle.

10 Stats About Gen Z Churches Shouldn’t Ignore

Gen Z are those born between 1996 and 2010.

Another label for this generation? Zoomers.

The first generation to come of age in the era of the smartphone, we're just now beginning to get a better picture of what makes this generation unique.

This week on the podcast, Alex and I rank 10 stats about Gen Z based on their importance to churches and everyday ministry.

Thanks as always for your time, attention, and trust. Talk to you next Thursday. - Brady Shearer