Polish young Orthodox Christians discuss the problems of social network addiction

Report by Nadezhda
Prepared for OCP Media Network – 28/2/15

A lot of young Europeans tend to use social networks more and more in their everyday life. In case when young people are divided by distance and borders Internet really is the quickest and the most effective way of communication. Nevertheless, for many people social networks turned into the real networks which do not leave their captives easily. Virtual world is also very dangerous because a young person hanging in the networks loses the habit of the offline communication.

These were the main issues discussed during the lecture of a Polish archpriest and the head of a Polish Orthodox Christian radio “Ortodoxia” Jan Koylo. The lecture took place during the celebrations of the World Day of the Orthodox Christian youth.

“Facebook czy faceBóg” (“Facebook or faceGod”) – this was the title of the lecture by father Jan. He is sure that Orthodox Christian young people have a lot to say to their friends with social network addiction: “What is important is the contact, the personal meeting with God. This is what can’t be offered and shown to us by any social network even in the least. Social networks are a kind of an attempt to escape to the other world, the alternative one. This is the world where we can be whoever we want to be and it is not necessarily an advantage. As a matter of fact the networks are not a bad invention in case we do not cross certain borders. In case their purpose is to transfer information and not to express emotions”.

Orthodox Christian young people can show to their atheist friends many examples of successful communication such as interactive games, a ball, forums and, of course, common prayer during divine services. Everything can help in order to free young people from the Internet addiction and teach them again to live in a real world.

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