Clickbait: something (such as a headline) designed to make readers want to click on a hyperlink especially when the link leads to content of dubious value or interest. ( Source: Merriam Webster dictionary)
This is a strategy that one comes across more and more in the digital world. Hidden mines that lead us down a rabbit hole, away from what we plan to work on.
Does this affect our faith as a Catholic, certainly Holy Father Pope Leo seems to think so.
The following is the theme chosen by the Holy Father Leo XIV for the 61st World Day of Social Communications, to be celebrated in 2027 and released as per tradition on 29th September 2029, the feast of St Gabriel, considered patron of messengers and communicators. The formal message will be released on January 24th, the feast of St Francis de Sales, patron saint of journalists.
“A New Gaze: Paying Attention in the Age of Clickbait”
‘The attention economy, with its struggle for a few moments of interest amid the rapid and endless flow of content, is transforming not only our cognitive abilities but also the depth of our interpersonal communication.
We are called to a conversion of our gaze: to look again, with attention and with love. Only in this way will we be able to see the world, others, and even ourselves, as Christ sees us: called by name and loved. Our communication changes when our gaze chooses to encounter others rather than judge them.
The lack of genuine attention, fueled by digital culture, has accustomed us to a routine of rapid reactions, to superficial relationships, and to the ease with which we label and reject others. Yet attention is a precious form of generosity: the word “attention” comes from ad-tendere — to reach out toward the other and toward the truth. Christian communication can rediscover attention as both a gift and a way of seeing — the gaze of Jesus, who saw and allowed himself to be touched.
Communicating is not about capturing attention, nor about selling it, but about safeguarding it as a precious resource for relationships. To communicate in the age of “clickbait,” we are called to “pay attention” and to rediscover a genuinely healthy attention (cf. MH 146). Communication is not just about words, it involves the entire person and asks us to look, hear and feel again in order to answer Christ’s call.’
I feel the impact of these words intensely, as a Catholic writer. I have been inundated by the digital world and clickbait everywhere (mostly through innocuously disguised Whatsapp messages on groups that I am on), causing me to go down rabbit holes, loose focus on the situation in front of me, and not pay 100 percent attention even in Mass. Maybe that is why quite often, during the day, I cannot recollect the Gospel reading I heard in Mass that morning or the homily points, despite looking up these readings from my Bible Diary the night before.
My concentration on those around me is not one hundred percent, I am always distracted by the mobile besides me, buzzing with all its vibrations. We are told the Word should be a lamp to our feet ( Ps 119:105), to direct our steps, not our mobile (as is my case). Speaking to other Catholics in our Bible Study group, I find they struggle with same issue too. Besides attention span deficit, I am also challenged to spend enough time with the situation or person in front of me, to give them a second look and to understand them well enough for the correct response. Maybe that is why some decisions taken in this manner have not gone well for me.
Challenged by Holy Father’s words, I resolve to take some immediate steps to address the issue of Clickbait immediately. These steps are painful but need to be done. I write to the administrators of the various Whatsapp groups I am on, including some of my beloved Catholic writer groups. I explain the situation, that I would like to be off these groups, as I am getting sucked into the digital quicksand of clickbait, unable to focus on my true vocation. Sometimes, I even put my life ( and I am ashamed to say, those in the car with me at risk), by seeking to immediately respond to Whatsapp messages while driving. To my surprise, the administrators are understanding and supportive of my decision to divest myself of the digital world as much as possible. I exit these groups, that have been part of my life so many years, where I learnt a lot, but also wasted a lot of time on the digital screen in front of me, rather than the real life persons and situations in front of me.
My mobile phone is unusually silent as I type these lines on the laptop, no buzzing or notifications of incoming messages as was the earlier norm. Already, I feel a sense of calm in me, a sense of ownership of the present moment.
I thank Holy Father for drawing our attention to the dangers of clickbait.
Anything that takes our gaze away from Him or our God given vocations is certainly not the Divine plan.
Help me Lord to stick to the resolutions made. To be off the digital world as much as possible, the wisdom to discern what might be clickbait and to give my one hundred percent to the present moment, being faithful to the vocation You have blessed me with. Amen.
