The Orthodox Church doesn’t have a single rule about social media. It’s a tool, and like any tool it can be used well or badly. What matters is whether your use of it draws you closer to God or pulls you away from Him.
That’s the short answer. But it’s worth unpacking what Orthodox clergy and teachers actually say about digital life, because there’s real wisdom here for those of us scrolling through Instagram at the red light on I-10 or checking Facebook before we’ve even said our morning prayers.
A Tool, Not a Demon
Social media isn’t evil in itself. The Church has always used available technology to spread the Gospel. St. Paul wrote letters that got copied and circulated. Printing presses made the liturgical books accessible. Ancient Faith Radio streams the Divine Liturgy to people who live hours from the nearest parish. These are good things.
Orthodox clergy recognize that social media can serve the faith. It lets isolated Orthodox Christians access sermons and teaching. It connects inquirers with parishes. It allows priests to share homilies beyond Sunday morning. During hurricane season here in Southeast Texas, parishes use Facebook to let people know if services are cancelled or if the building took damage. That’s pastoral care.
But here’s the problem. Social media platforms aren’t designed to help you pray. They’re designed to keep you scrolling. The whole structure is built around engagement, which usually means outrage, envy, or distraction. Every notification is an interruption. Every like is a little hit of approval. And before you know it, you’ve spent an hour watching videos of people you don’t know doing things you don’t care about, and you haven’t opened your prayer book in three days.
The Spiritual Dangers
Orthodox teachers name specific spiritual dangers in how we use these platforms. First is distraction. The Church has always taught that prayer requires stillness, what the Fathers called hesychia. You can’t cultivate interior silence when your phone buzzes every five minutes. You can’t hear God when you’re drowning in noise.
Second is vanity. Posting for likes trains you to perform for approval. It feeds pride. And it replaces the hard interior work of repentance with a cheap substitute where you curate an image instead of examining your soul. Orthodox spiritual life moves in the opposite direction: toward humility, toward seeing yourself honestly before God.
Third is anger and gossip. Comment sections are cesspools. Orthodox ethics demand that we correct others privately, gently, with love. Social media encourages public shaming, hot takes, and faction. It’s poison for Christian community.
Fourth is isolation. Scrolling through other people’s lives isn’t fellowship. The Church is a body, and bodies need physical presence. You can’t receive Communion through a screen. You can’t embrace someone at coffee hour via Instagram. Digital connections can supplement parish life, but they can’t replace it.
What to Do About It
So what’s the Orthodox response? Not necessarily to delete everything and move to a monastery, though some people are called to that kind of radical simplicity. For most of us, it’s about discernment and discipline.
Fast from technology. Treat it like you treat food during Lent. Turn off your phone during meals. Don’t check social media before morning prayers. Take a day off each week, or give it up entirely during fasting seasons. Your spiritual father can help you figure out what’s appropriate for you.
Ask yourself why you’re online. Are you looking for information you actually need? Are you sharing something that might help someone? Or are you just bored, anxious, avoiding something harder? Intentionality matters.
Sanctify your feed. If you’re going to be on these platforms, follow Orthodox content. Let your timeline be full of icons, hymns, patristic quotes, and parish announcements instead of whatever algorithm-driven garbage the platform wants to show you. Use the tool for good.
Don’t argue in comment sections. Just don’t. Nothing good comes of it. If you need to correct someone, send a private message. If they won’t listen, let it go. You’re not the theology police.
Protect your kids. This is huge. Children don’t have the spiritual formation to handle what social media does to the brain. Parental controls, supervision, and teaching them discernment aren’t optional. They’re part of raising them in the faith.
The Bigger Picture
The real question isn’t “Is social media good or bad?” It’s “Am I becoming more like Christ?” If your phone use is making you irritable, distracted, vain, or isolated, that’s your answer. If it’s helping you stay connected to your parish, learn the faith, and share the Gospel, that’s different.
We live in Southeast Texas in 2025, not fourth-century Egypt. You probably can’t avoid screens entirely. But you can use them as a Christian. You can set boundaries. You can fast. You can ask your priest for guidance. And you can remember that the goal of your life isn’t entertainment or engagement or going viral. It’s union with God. Everything else, including your Instagram account, is just a tool to help or hinder that goal.
If you’re struggling with this, talk to your priest. He’s heard it before. And if you’re curious about what a rhythm of prayer and fasting looks like in daily life, come to a weekday Vespers service and ask someone afterward. We’re all figuring this out together.
