Clergy, Religious Cautioned against Social Media “celebritization” at Communicators Meeting in Kenya

The member of the congregation of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent DePaul (MVZ) highlighted the reality of social media celebrities “not just in church, but everywhere,” with “a lot of famous influencers who are lay or Clergy, now communicating on social media platforms.” 

Sr. Nina cautioned that without proper discernment digital platforms could lead a Church minister to shift focus away from their actual mission.

“Risks can always be promoting yourself and not being the link,” she said , and clarified, “We are here not to promote ourselves but to be the link to God’s Kingdom, to promote communion, not just our personal opinions.”

The Catholic Sister also highlighted the affective bonds that get created on digital platforms, which she said  are sometimes “more similar to a fan than to someone who is listening to a preacher” as another risk of “celebritization.”

“These things are changing in the digital environment,” Sr. Nina said during the November 18 interview with ACI Africa on the sidelines of the four-day event that the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops' (KCCB) Commission for Social Communication organized on the theme, “Deepening collaboration and building capacity for effective evangelization and ethical media management.”

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She stated that with good discernment and with good formation, social media platforms, including artificial intelligence “are not inherently good or bad. They can be very good.”

“We just need proper formation. We need to know enough to be intentional on social media, not simply present with a partial vision, but to have an integral understanding of what we are doing there,” Sr. Nina said.

The MVZ member told ACI Africa that the DFC has undertaken significant initiatives to help the Church navigate the rapidly evolving media landscape shaped by social media and artificial intelligence.

She particularly highlighted the document “Towards Full Presence,” which she said talks about the engagement in social media. 

The document , she said, is the fruit of collaboration with academics, young professionals, and the religious men and women Religious “who sat together and discerned about our presence in social media.”

She described the document as a “fruit of synodal discernment” that "gives new answers to the questions that we have in the social media environment.”

“It’s not designed to give a simple answer to a complicated question, but to help us discern together,” the DFC official said.

She added that the document also encourages a move from individual presence on social media to fostering community.

Sr. Nina also noted that the DFC has a website fully dedicated to the document, where anyone can find questions for reflection to discern what to promote on social media.

Nicholas Waigwa is a Kenyan multimedia journalist and broadcast technician with a professional background in creating engaging news stories and broadcasting content across multiple media platforms. He is passionate about the media apostolate and Catholic Church communication.