Wake Up, Look Up

Hello, everyone. Thanks for listening to Wake Up, Look Up, a podcast where we connect events happening in real time to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I'm Zach Weihrauch. And in today's episode, we're asking the question, is TikTok the new CNN? This is prompted by an article I read in The Atlantic recently about how TikTok, the digital app made for short video clips, is on the rise as a source of news for Americans.

In fact, Nearly 40% of adults under the age of 30 say that their primary source for news is TikTok.

40% of people under 30 are going not to CNN or Fox News or MSNBC, not even to the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, whatever.

They're going to TikTok. That's because influencers are realizing there's a market for rapidly delivering headlines, with a little bit of commentary packaged with some B-roll.

And so as more influencers create the content, more people are saying, hey, I'm already on TikTok, doom scrolling, might as well also get the news.

But what's interesting about that and a little scary is how TikTok shapes its algorithms. Because precision or getting the news story right is not what gets you to the top of the pile on TikTok.

What gets you there is eyeballs, clicks, and comments. So popularity is driving what content is out there. And so when people think they're getting the news, what they're really getting is just simply the video more people have watched.

When people think they're reading comments that are based on accuracy, they're really just getting feedback from people who found that video interesting.

So as a result, TikTok isn't just increasing as a source of news, it's increasing as a source of misinformation.

the platform is really redefining the whole concept of news saying attention matters more than accuracy.

And I'm not blaming TikTok for this. They're just the culmination of a cultural trend, which has said where we want entertainment, even in our news, more than we want substance.

And I have to tell you, I'm very worried about this. And I want to challenge you that TikTok should not be the place you go for news.

In fact, you know, if you Listen to this podcast regularly. I don't think TikTok should be a place you should go, period. But certainly not for the news. Here's why. Let me just start with this.

Truth matters more than hype. Jesus says in John 8, 32, the truth will set you free. Of course, he means the truth about himself, but he's speaking just generally about truth in general.

Lies in the end constrict us. Lies harm us. They don't lead to freedom. They lead to fear. They lead to animosity. And news platforms that are just trying to entertain us are not appealing to the better parts of us.

They're not challenging us to think, challenging us to overcome our presuppositions, to wrestle with nuance.

They're simply baiting us into fear or into tribalism. And it isn't good for us. Listen, we need sources of news that challenge us to think.

And that isn't happening in a minute and a half before you scroll to the next animal video you're going to watch.

The other thing is this, discernment is a spiritual discipline. Listen, the writer of Hebrews says that we should be trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.

The Bible actually has a lot to say about discernment. Discernment is the ability, if you will, to chew the meat and spit out the bones.

But if I'm looking to to develop in my discernment, I need to go to platforms that are actually equipping me to do that.

Platforms that are introducing me to studies, to stats, to data that are presenting both sides of an argument that are stimulating me intellectually because then I'm building up the muscle of how to think.

I'm building up the muscle of separating truth from lies, fact from fiction. When we go to news sources like TikTok that are giving us so-called truth in little bite sizes with no nuance, our muscles are actually atrophying, which is why we're a culture that really no longer cares about thinking about things or separating fact from fiction.

The other thing is this, influence without accountability is dangerous. Well, James 3 says that those who teach will be held to a stricter judgment.

I don't know if that verse applies to social media influencers for their sake, I hope that isn't true because that TikToker that you're looking at, if they create a video that gets millions of views, whether that video was right or wrong, factual or not factual, they don't care.

Their algorithm is still getting boosted. No one's coming by later to take their so-called license away because they got it wrong.

There's zero accountability, which means there's zero reason for them to actually get it right. Look, real wisdom begins with God, not algorithms. Proverbs 9 says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

The question is, who does God want us to be? How does he want us to think? Who is he leading us to become? And are these platforms actually getting us there?

Listen, as the quote goes, the medium is the message. And a medium that is designed to keep you doom scrolling, a medium that is designed...

to get you to look here, no, not there, here, not there, here, is not one that is teaching you to develop a healthy ability to think.

Look, I'm not here to tell you where to get your news from, but I am here to tell you where not to get it from.

TikTok isn't good for you, and it isn't helping you to become the thinking person God wants you to be.

Hey, thanks for watching this episode of Wake Up, Look Up. If you enjoyed it, please help us get the word out by sharing it with someone you think might benefit from it.

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Have an article you'd like Zach to discuss? Email us at wakeup@ccchapel.com!