Why I Unfollowed You: An Open Letter to Catholic Influencers
By Sabrina McCormack
Dear Catholic Influencers,
I write to you as a friend and sister, but also as the unpopular girl, the one who isn’t “seen” like you are. The one without a platform or audience. I’m roughly the same age as most of you. I am roughly in the same state of life (and actual state) as some of you. I share the same faith as all of you. I’ve followed many of you on your respective platforms for years… until now.
I had to unfollow many of you. Yes, had to. Curious as to why? Honestly, so am I. So, I propose we take a journey together, if you’re willing. I’d like to tell you three reasons why I decided to unfollow you.
The first reason why I had to unfollow some of you is because of your attitudes and “authority”. Many of you have strong opinions: about health, food, makeup, fashion, the Mass, child-rearing, dating, the Pope, etc… this is all fine and good, but your opinions are simply that, your opinions. You use your platform to educate, to inform, to influence. But here’s the fundamental problem: your faith, in one way or another, has been used as one of your biggest marketing tools. Many of you are making Catholicism cool again (which is awesome, by the way) but this can be dangerous when it comes to sharing your opinions.
When the apostles evangelized and taught (“influenced”, so to speak), they always taught what Jesus taught. They often repeated what Jesus said, word for word. You must tread lightly here, dear influencers. When your faith is also one of your biggest marketing techniques, your opinions, regardless of the topic, are often mistaken for facts - for doctrine - for dogma.
If Saint Peter walked the earth today and wore a certain brand of sandals, and made that fact very known to his “followers” (perhaps even offering a discount code), where would the focus be? If Saint Mary Magdalene walked the earth today and used a certain brand of mascara and made it very public to her “followers”, where would the focus be? There’s nothing wrong with sharing your sandal and makeup preferences with your followers, especially if they ask, but there’s a fine line here… the question must always be asked: where is the focus? On the ministry of evangelization or on your product promotion?
The second reason why I unfollowed many of you is due to your seeming lack of authenticity. “Who am I to judge?” - an often misquoted, taken out of context phrase from Pope Francis, but in this case, it definitely holds. I cannot and will do my best not to judge the authenticity of anyone, especially Catholic influencers. I do not know the motives in anyone’s heart. I often do not even know my own motives, so how can I know my neighbor’s?
That being said, I think Millennials and Gen Z can spot inauthenticity pretty easily. Anything edited, photoshopped, filtered, and curated has been exposed as more and more influencers reveal the behind-the-scenes of their elaborate in-home photoshoots, camera tricks, and algorithm hacks. A handful of Catholic influencers use these same tools to gain followers or promote their pages, whether or not they readily admit it to their followers.
I’m over the curated, color-coordinated feeds, the wacky camera angles, and the programmed “big reveals” that often take place on your accounts. Without passing judgment, it seems as though these tools are being employed to hack the algorithm, gain followers, and get people talking about you.
Lastly, the third reason I had to unfollow you was due to your amour-propre, or self-regard. Before I continue, let me say that I am the last person to speak on the sin of pride. It’s been said that it’s easy to spot your sins in others, so I speak here as a fellow sinner (ref. Matthew 7).
In a message for the 36th World Communications Day, Pope Saint John Paul II wrote:
The Internet causes billions of images to appear on millions of computer monitors around the planet. From this galaxy of sight and sound will the face of Christ emerge and the voice of Christ be heard? For it is only when his face is seen and his voice heard that the world will know the glad tidings of our redemption. This is the purpose of evangelization.
It’s not very often that I see Jesus’ face or hear his voice on the feeds of many Catholic influencers. Rarely do I see Jesus’ face or hear his voice on my own feed. Instead, I often see selfies and glamor shots (my own included). The algorithm doesn’t love the face and voice of Our Lord. It may love your face and voice, and mine, but that’s why we have to work all the more to make sure our faces and voices are the face and voice of Jesus.
The Holy Spirit is the only one who can evangelize, all we can do is be open to how God wants to use us. We must not let our pride or our own influence get in the way of authentic evangelization and the Gospel message.
Love,
Your sister and friend
