For the 48th World Communications Day, Pope Francis produced a remarkable (and mostly enthusiastic) message about the effects of social media. He contended that the Internet is "something truly good, a gift from God."
At the same time, he warned that the "variety of opinions being aired can be seen as helpful, but it also enables people to barricade themselves behind sources of information which only confirm their own wishes and ideas, or political and economic interests." For that reason, Pope Francis observed, the new world of communications "can help us either to expand our knowledge or to lose our bearings."
In what sense can the variety of opinions make us "lose our bearings"? The pope was referring to the use of new technologies to create echo chambers, in which people take advantage of the countless options to confirm their pre-existing convictions. Thus he warned of a situation in which we become "closed in on ourselves."
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