Social media is a new level of media danger. We become both the star and the spectator.

We become the center of our media, which is something that's very different.

We not only become the star of our own story that we project out there.

We watch other people look at us and affirm us. And so we spectate others spectating us.

It becomes very addictive that dopamine starts shooting in our brain saying, yeah, we want

more social affirmation.

And so we go back to our social media feeds to project ourselves and to watch other people

affirm us.

Welcome to the Crossway podcast, a show where we sit down with authors each week for thoughtful

interviews about the Bible, theology, church history, and the Christian life.

I'm Matt Tully, and today I'm talking with Tony Ranky.

Tony serves as senior writer for Desiring God, is the host of the Ask Pastor John podcast,

and is the author of a number of books,

including 12 ways your phone is changing you, and competing spectacles,

treasuring Christ in the media age.

Today, Tony and I discuss the media-saturated world in which we live,

reflecting on how social media is changing the way we think about ourselves,

especially kids, the benefits of the

occasional digital detox, and what something called cultural imprinting has to do with the

massive success of the latest Avengers movie. Let's get started. Well, Tony, thank you so much for

joining us on the Crossway podcast today.

That was my honor. Thanks for having me. So I want to start by starting where you begin with your book, and you open the book with

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