Piper Rockelle started her influencer career when she was just eight
years old. With the help of her mom, Tiffany Smith, Piper’s playful videos with a group of aspiring young influencers called “The Squad” quickly gathered a huge following. Her videos pulled in billions of views and millions of dollars.
From the outside, it looked like a bunch of hormonal pre-teens goofing off and sometimes squabbling with each other. Piper’s content was definitely not Christian, but most people thought it was pretty innocent.
Then, in 2022, eleven former members of “The Squad” and their guardians filed a $22 million lawsuit against Piper and her mom, alleging that there had been manipulation, emotional, physical, and sometimes sexual abuse behind the scenes.
Netflix’s new three-part docuseries, Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing, explores what went wrong.
Was social media a bad influence on Piper’s life? Yes! The allure of “like and subscribe!” led her and her mom into unhealthy territory.
“But hey, that’s not me,” I hear you saying. “I’m not an influencer. And I’m careful about what I do on social media. It’s not a bad influence for me.”
Slow down. Are you sure?
Social Media’s Dark Side
When social media began, people celebrated the connections that could be built online. While it has advantages and can be used for good purposes, we increasingly see its dark side.
In 2023, the United States Surgeon General issued a warning about social media and teen mental health. He said that
the higher your social media use, the higher your chance of sleeping poorly or experiencing cyberbullying, body dysmorphia, or low self-esteem. More than three hours a day on social media actually doubles your risk of depression and
anxiety.
Plus, social media is addictive. It’s designed to give your brain lots of little hits of dopamine, a natural neurotransmitter that helps you feel motivated and happy. God created dopamine to help you connect with others, enjoy the good
things in life, and feel happy about doing the right thing. The problem is that social media hijacks the natural reward pathways in your brain and gives you those same good feelings for doing nothing more than flicking through your
Instagram stories.
The fast pace of social media also makes it tough to slow down and focus. Ever tried to do math after scrolling through TikTok? You’ve just been getting rapid-fire dopamine hits, so your brain is going to find it hard to slow down
enough to think deeply about anything.
And we haven’t even talked about the type of content you are consuming.
Black, White, and the Grey In-Between
Think of it this way: What content would Jesus want to see if He was sitting beside you? Think of that content as the color white.
What if Satan was sitting beside you? The content he’d want is black.
In between, there is a whole spectrum of grey. Some of it is obviously bad. Other content is fairly neutral. Some seem obviously helpful. How do you decide? Get as close to the white as you possibly can!
“Do not be deceived: ‘Evil company corrupts good habits’” (1 Corinthians 15:33).
“But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness” (2 Timothy 2:16).
Five Ways to Transform Your Social Media Usage
- Be Honest With Yourself: Take a good, hard look at your social media consumption. What content fills your feed? Does it honor God? How much time are you spending on Instagram? TikTok? Snapchat? YouTube? Is it drawing you closer to God? Or leading you away from Him? “Examine yourselves. … Test yourselves” (2 Corinthians 13:5).
- Surrender to God: Every single day, surrender your social media usage to God and ask Him to be Lord of that area of your life. Commit to following His principles. “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:6).
- Filter by the Bible: Not sure whether something is good or bad? Start by comparing it to the Ten Commandments. Can you truly keep all of them holy while consuming this content? Ask God for insight. “Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things” (Philippians 4:8).
- Resist the Devil: Be like Daniel and make up your mind to never dishonor God on social media (Daniel 1:8). Do whatever it takes to win the battle—turn off your notifications, set time limits, block content, or get off entirely. “Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
- Create. Don’t Just Consume: Ready to take it to the next level for God? Ask Him how you can contribute wholesome, uplifting content that will be a good influence rather than a bad influence. Ask God to help you be “blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15).
Ready to learn more? Check out our series on smartphones: