Everyone's chasing the algorithm. More clicks, better thumbnails, optimised titles, short-form funnels. So what does a Christian do with all of that?

Joel and Tim start with football, Real Madrid vs Barcelona, identity, rivalry and what success actually means, and end up somewhere and end up with a biblical framework for thinking about metrics of success in a world that rewards inflammatory, clickbaity and often dishonest content.

Along the way they work through the cultural mandate in Genesis 1 and 2, the trifecta of good, true and beautiful, Proverbs' wisdom about living with the grain of God's design, and whether Christians should be on these platforms at all — or whether the algorithm has simply evangelised us instead.

If you're wrestling with digital content, social media, and what faithful presence online actually looks like, enjoy!

Timestamps
00:00 Intro: trains, voyages and retractable stadium pitches
05:40 Fear and Loathing in La Liga: Real Madrid, Barcelona and what success actually means
17:55 Chasing the algorithm: what ChatGPT says about podcast success
24:45 The cultural mandate: why content creation starts in Genesis
32:00 Good, true and beautiful: a biblical filter for everything you make
42:30 Should Christians be on these platforms at all? McLuhan, Haidt and the pub analogy
51:30 The quiet revival and Tim's takeaway

Discussed on this episode
Real Madrid's retractable pitch
Tottenham Hotspur's retractable pitch
Fear and Loathing in La Liga, by Sid Lowe
The Anxious Generation, by Jonathan Haidt
Indistractable, by Nir Eyal
The Sirens' Call, by Chris Hayes
Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman
The Medium is the Message, by Marshall McLuhan
Cross Formed Kidmin Podcast

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With or against the grain of God's design