I'm not a "new media" expert.
But to me,
"New Media" is old media
without editors,
without barriers,
without bosses.
At least not in its initial form.
Through this medium,
I can risk looking silly
by writing thoughts
in a strange style
with no fear of damaging
"the brand," you see.
But "new media"
is quickly being co-opted,
if not dominated,
by old media companies.
Repackaging their messages,
paying people to share them,
and you wouldn't even know that
if you weren't careful.
Then, of course,
there are the revolutionaries.
The "new media" and "new evangelization"
are the old ways, actually.
But with direct access
to connecting people
globally,
electronically
instead of personally.
You know,
face to face,
working alongside them,
witnessing to them
by our daily
observable habits.
Sharing our stories
and struggles with them.
Falling down,
and picking each other up
As people naturally do.
New Media can fool you
into thinking you know the person
who is sharing that message with you today
this recommendation,
that hint or thought.
Again, I'm no expert
but I think these new ways
are very good,
but easily manipulated.
Orson Wells caused a panic
with a mere radio show
and we laugh
at the people's naïveté
from our lofty perch.
How different are we
from them?
I suspect not very.
As Qoheleth said so
long, long ago:
Nothing under the sun
is new,
neither is any man able to say,
"Behold this is new!"
For it hath already
gone before
in the ages
that were before us.
Of course, Qoheleth could not
send his message
at the speed of light
from where he sat
to where it would be found
by someone
in a remote village
in Bhutan.
Today.
Right now.
That is the promise
of the New Media and
the hope of the
New Evangelization.
The peril
is that the message
of Christ's love,
for the whole world,
is forgotten
in our awe of
the Medium.
Just a reminder
(If only for myself).
