Replay: Put Social Media In Its Place with Andy Crouch

Send us Fan MailIn this Replay episode, Matthew Lee Anderson, Derek Rishmawy, and Alistair Roberts are joined by Andy Crouch — Partner for Theology and Culture at Praxis — to examine what the data on social media and video games reveals about the diverging formation of young men and women. The conversation turns on a pointed question: what happens when the skills adolescence develops are simulations rather than realities? And what does that mean for formative communities — home, school, and church — that bear responsibility for shaping persons, not just managing behaviors? - Mere Fidelity is a podcast from Mere Orthodoxy and is listener-supported. If you would like to support this work, become a Mere Orthodoxy Member today at http://mereorthodoxy.com/membership. Get 30% of the Baker Book of the Month, R30 Key Moments in the History of Christianity: Inspiring True Stories from the Early Church Around the World, by going to: http://bakerbookhouse.com/pages/mere-fidelity Apply for a full-tuition scholarship for Beeson Divinity School's M.Div program that begins Fall 2026 here: https://bit.ly/beesonscholarships - Chapters 2:00 — Guest Introduction: Andy Crouch 3:00 — The Tweet: Social Media, Video Games, and Diverging Outcomes 5:30 — Why We Now Have Reliable Data 7:00 — Social Media's Harm to Girls 8:30 — Why Boys Seem Fine (At First) 11:00 — The Idolatry Framework: Things That Work at First 17:00 — Pornography as Formation Failure 19:00 — The Feminization of Internet Culture 25:00 — The Algorithmic Turn: From Chronological to Algorithmic Feeds 31:00 — The Algorithm Catches You at Your Worst 33:00 — Mobile Devices and the End of Distance 36:00 — Practical Applications: Give Resistors an Off-Ramp 40:00 — Banning Phones in Schools: A Framework 44:00 — "But They Need to Prepare for the Real World" 46:00 — Instruments vs. Devices: A Distinction 48:00 — Closing & Patron Teaser