U2, Photobombs, & Selfies

Recently I was thinking about photobombs and selfies.  I am sure some people thought these originated with the age of Facebook, social media, and digital technology in general.  They did not.  Intentional photobombs and selfies have been around far longer.  Humor me while I share.

Before digital photography, while on youth trips, we had some leaders who loved to photobomb family pictures at places like Disney. There were two sneaky ways to accomplish this.  One was to get behind the family without being noticed and then pull a face or pose when the picture was taken.  This was very tricky to do without the photographer noticing, plus getting the timing was essential.  The other was to volunteer to take the family photo “so that everyone could get in” and then have an accomplice who sneaks behind the family and makes the crazy face or whatever.  The great thing (before digital photography) was that families never knew their picture was photobombed until they got the prints back from the lab after vacation.

Then there is the selfie.  Before the digital photo age, the thing we did in our youth group was to spot a camera laying around and shoot a few pictures of ourselves making faces.  The owner only discovered what we had done after the fact, when prints came back from the lab.  Selfies were different though.  We only made faces or posed in silly ways.  People generally did not do anything risky or rude because we knew that photo lab people had to report anything sketchy and usually did not print things that could get them in trouble for printing. I know this because my brother once worked at a photo lab. They were innocent selfies – which is something we still see today all over Facebook.  In fact, when my wife and I travel, we often make a point of taking a few pictures of our selves in various places.  When someone offers to take the photo for us, we decline because honestly, the selfie is just so much more fun. Okay, we are weird and have yet to grow up.

So, where does U2 come in?  I got thinking about why they gave away their newest project.  It seemed to be a brilliant way to win over more fans who then might come to concerts.  The band probably does not need the money from music sales but then can rake it in on the concert tour. Then I was hearing on the radio about a slump in record sales of new releases by major bands. Perhaps U2 avoided the possible embarrassment of having a new release that did not sell well.  That could affect concert attendance also.  But the bigger picture… It seems that people are less inclined to purchase real entertainment these days.  Why? Because things like selfies and photobombs get more attention on social media and entertain people more than what we used to pay for. On top of that, the great price point of “free” makes things more accessible and there tons of artists giving their music away to make it into the music business on sites like Noisetrade. People in the entertainment business have to do some real thinking about what their future might look like.

Is youth ministry any different? Are we not in a place where we have to rethink our strategies in order to reach todays teens? Gone are the days that free food or a concert would draw in hundreds to a church just because it was offered… unless the band is really well known and then “free” becomes way too expensive to do. Maybe the trend toward creating our own simple entertainment tells us that the days of entertainment based youth ministry has finally passed. Then what we need to do is engage people in creating for themselves. Since the church is not in the entertainment business (and should never have been), what do we help students create?  What do they really need in an age of virtual reality and instant everything? How about real relationships and real truth? Those are both absent or at least distorted in the social media world.  So, youth ministries future should then be centered around relational Bible study.  There you have it.  Simple… and all this from selfies, photobombs, and U2.